Neko no Jutsu
by D3m0nDarks
Summary: A strange Sand kunoichi seems to be spending a lot of time in Konoha lately. Not only does she instantly take a liking to the Leaf's jinchuuriki, but reveals she's also a childhood friend of none other than Gaara. Sometimes, making friends with jinchuurikis and trying to hunt down someone who murdered your best friend 3 years ago isn't easy. Especially when you're a cat. DISCONT.
1. Chapter 1: The Cat

**The Cat**

"Where'd she go?..."

"Worried about your girlfriend, Gaara?" Kankuro teased, a huge smirk on his face.

Gaara gave his brother a cold deadly glare. "If you wish to live, you will stop calling her that. She's a teammate, nothing more. I couldn't care less what happens to her."

Kankuro stared at his brother in disbelief. "But you've known each other since you were 6! You still don't trust her?!"

The youngest sibling ignored his brother, as if he hadn't spoken at all.

"Baka!" something hard suddenly hit Kankuro on the back of the head, knocking him onto the ground.

He glared at the figure standing over him.

"Temari," he hissed, picking himself up "why'd you hit me with your fan?"

Temari glared at him "We're a bit busy to be standing around chatting. Let's go."

Kankuro blinked "But... what about-"

"She's fine. You underestimate her too much, Kankuro. That girl's strong."

"But this place isn't called the Forest of Death for nothing!"

Temari rolled her eyes. "We've been here for 2 days already, this place is no threat."

Gaara nodded "We've already gotten both the scrolls and we've wasted enough time already. Let's make our way to the temple." Gaara turned and began to walk away, Temari following behind.

Kankuro shook his head "You can't. You have to go to the temple with all of your teammates."

Gaara narrowed his eyes, knowing his brother was right and sighed. "Fine. Let's go look for her."

Kankuro chuckled "You put up such a big fuss..."

"So do you." Temari raised an eyebrow.

"Well she'll probably get herself into some kind of trouble. You know cats, they always are sticking their nose into something."

* * *

><p>Roko sat next to his two partners as they took a break when he suddenly felt his bag moving behind him. He turned around to see a black cat with it's entire face in his backpack.<p>

"Hey!" Roko hissed, shooing it away "Scram!"

The cat looked up at him with big golden eyes... and a scroll in it's mouth.

"T-The scroll!" he exclaimed as the cat took off into the trees.

"Baka!" one of his teammates shouted "What the hell would a cat be doing in a place like this?"

"Shut up!" the other man shouted "Don't let it get away!"

But it was too late. The strange cat was already gone.

* * *

><p>"What a pain..."<p>

Ino glared at Shikamaru as he watched the clouds.

"Shikamaru! You can't ju-" Ino groaned, cutting herself off. "Forget it." She had already lectured him enough times, and still nothing changed.

Shikamaru sighed. "You can't just sit around and relax. You have to be alert or we'll be ambushed and we won't become chuunin. I get it, I get it."

Ino narrowed her eyes, knowing he was rolling his eyes in his head. "Smart-ass."

"Troublesome woman."

Choji had been silent (except for the crinckling of his potato chip bag) the entire time. "Hey..." he spoke up "that cat has a scroll."

Ino and Shikamaru turned to look where Choji was pointing. Sure enough, there was a black cat sitting calmly under a tree with a scroll in it's mouth, watching the conversation between the two. It had a deep blue collar around it's neck.

"Is it a trap?" Shikamaru thought out loud.

Ino ignored her teammate. "Here, kitty kitty kitty..." she cooed, beckoning to the cat.

The cat seemed to narrow it's eyes and began to walk away.

"Hey! Get back here! Stupid cat!" Ino shouted.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the scene in front of him... Ino was shouting at a cat. Somehow, this didn't surprise him.

The cat stopped and turned it's head, scowling at Ino from the corner of it's eye.

The cat suddenly alerted to something and jumped, landing on the tree branch above.

"Damn..." Shikamaru cursed as his shadow retreated.

"It's mocking us!" Ino seemed even more pissed than before. Before Shikamaru could complain, Ino lunged at it, leaping onto the tree branch as it dodged.

Choji watched Ino and Shikamaru chase the cat around to no avail.

Eventually, after the two of them grew tired, the cat seemed to get bored. It streched it's back then calmly padded over to Choji and placed the scroll in front of him. Then, it jumped away through the trees.

Ino stomped over to Choji and snatched the scroll up. "Stupid cat..." he heard her mutter.

The said girl seemed to notice something and held up the scroll.

"Th-This is..." she stammered before intense anger flashed in her eyes. "THIS IS THE WRONG SCROLL!"

The cat looked back towards the rookie gennin and purred in amusement as it took off through the trees.

* * *

><p>Temari heard someone scream something and sighed.<p>

Gaara and Kankuro turned to look at her.

"Something wrong, Temari?" Kankuro asked.

"She's that way." Temari pointed in the direction she heard the scream from.

"How do you know?"

"Someone was shouting." she shook her head, but couldn't help smiling a little.

Kankuro chuckled "I told you. She's a trouble magnet."

Gaara, being the one who's known her the longest, couldn't help but agree. "Let's go."

The three of them lept through the trees but their paths were suddenly crossed by three amature-looking genin.

"Where is it? Where the hell did that cat run off to?" one of them hissed, not noticing the sand ninja that had paused on a nearby branch.

"Hey," Kankuro called out, making them stop "have you seen an annoying black cat around?"

"You know it?" another on spat "yeah, it just stole our scroll."

Kankuro shot Temari an 'I told you so' look.

"Is it close by?" Gaara asked cooley.

"I assume so..."

"Okay, thanks." Kankuro said, clearly dissmissing them.

Once they were out of hearing range Temari spoke up. "She can probably hear us."

Gaara gazed around "Sauda," he raised his voice only slightly. Before they knew it, the familiar black cat was patiently sitting on the branch in front of the redheaded child.

"There you are. We were starting to get worried." Kankuro grinned.

The cat glared at him, implying that he should know better.

Kankuro chuckled "We should go to the temple now. There's no use sitting around."

The cat gave a small nod.

"What if that guy that put the jutsu on her didn't make it through?" Temari suddenly asked.

"Temari, he's a ninja from the Sound. Of course he can survive a place like this."

The cat said nothing but glanced at Temari in agreement.

"But anyways, we should go wait for him," Kankuro continued "so we can figure out how release the jutsu."

Gaara shook his head. "Either he makes it through or he doesn't. We'll find out during the next round, I don't want to waste any more time than we have to." He cast a glare towards the black ball of fur, who, in response, laid her ears back and gave an innocent smile.

Kankuro smirked towards the cat, who quickly narrowed her eyes, knowing he was going to make a smart-ass comment next. And she was right. "Well, I admit, it is peaceful not having her talk all the time. I suppose we could wait a while longer to find a way to release it..."

The cat lashed out a paw at Kankuro, claws unsheathed, but he jumped away, still grinning at the cat with fur on end.

"That's enough." Gaara commanded and the two looked at him in obedience. "We need to get going."

Gaara turned and jumped away, Temari following close behind.

The cat and Kankuro shot a quick glance at each other before going after them.

**Yeah, this first chapter is crappy, get over it.**


	2. Chapter 2: Dispelling the Jutsu

"Up next is Aburame Shino against Dosu Kinuta!"

Kankuro looked up at the mention of the second man's name.

"Is that him?"

"Yeah. It's him alright." Temari answered for the cat, who's gaze was fixed on the man in the arena.

Said man wore a long gray coat with long sleeves that dragged on the floor behind him. His eyes were round as if he was surprised, yet they looked calm at the same time. The rest of his face was hidden behind a mask.

"Lets hope he doesn't die." Kankuro and Temari turned to look at Gaara. "If he does, we may not be able to lift the jutsu."

"Tragic." Kankuro smirked.

The cat looked expectantly at Temari. Noticing the cat awaiting a smack to the back of Kankuro's head, Temari did the honors. He responded with a scowl.

Kankuro figured it was best not to get into yet _another_ conflict with his feline companion and siblings, and decided to turned his attention back to the arena as the match started.

* * *

><p>Naruto leaned on the railing, eyes glued to Shino's incredible bug techniques. He wanted to learn all of Shino's tricks, in case he was to get into a fight with him someday.<p>

But his ADHD however, got the best of him.

His gaze fell upon a black cat sitting calmly on the railing next to the three ninja he had seen earlier who challenged Sasuke.

Forgetting about his dislike of the ninja whom had paid no attention to him earlier, he ran over, not quite sure why he was excited by a cat.

"Hey, is that your cat?" he burst out as soon as he reached them.

They turned to look at him but held no emotion on their faces.

The one in black answered him. "Yeah, so?"

Naruto suddenly grabbed the now alarmed cat and hugged it, face against it's soft fur. "He's so cute! What's his name?"

Kankuro grinned in amusement "_His _name is Sauda."

The cat was being held with Naruto's arms wrapped around under the cat's own arms, which were now sticking stait out-clearly not a comfortable position. Kankuro chuckled at the glare it sent him.

Temari gave her brother a nudge. "It's a girl." she explain to Naruto, who wasn't exactly listening.

Naruto suddenly noticed the collar around the cat's neck. He looked at it closely, studying it. It wasn't actually a collar, he realized, it was a headband, much like his own. The only difference was the sand symbol on it where the leaf was on his.

Naruto blinked, holding the cat out to face him. "You're a sand ninja?"

"She picked a fight with the sound ninja down there," Kankuro indicated to the man fighting Shino in the arena "so she got a jutsu placed on her."

Naruto's brows furrowed in confusion "he turned her into a cat?"

Kankuro was about to reply when he was cut off by a howl of pain from the ground below. The match was over.

The cat, Sauda, struggled free from Naruto's grasp and leapt onto Kankuro's shoulder. A few seconds later, they were in the air on the other side of the railing and landed skillfully as the medical shinobi arrived. He raced over before they could leave.

"Hey, wait!" he ordered, and the two men holding the portable strecher stopped.

Kankuro walked up to the ninja, glaring holes into his eyes. "Release the jutsu on my friend."

The ninja silently stared at the two of them for a moment before responding. "It's only temporary. It should wear off by tomorrow."

Kankuro wasn't convinced. "You better not be lying," he threatened.

The sound ninja closed his eyes. "It was made to keep targets silent so they couldn't scream for help. If the person was still alive after a few days, the ninja who had placed the jutsu on him must have failed and the effects would wear off."

Kankuro sighed in relief. "Good. But if it doesn't-"

"Kankuro!" Temari called from the observation deck "Come back, the next match is about to start!"

Kankuro shot one last glare at the ninja before returning to his siblings.

"What did he say?" Temari asked cooley.

"It should wear off by tomorrow." he repeated what the man had said.

Kankuro noticed that Gaara had no reaction to the news. He leaned close to Gaara and whispered in his ear, "At least try to look happy! You girlfrie-OW!"

Kankuro glared at the cat he had forgotten was still on his shoulder, now digging it's claws into him.

"Hey!" he hissed "You know I was just kidding! Sheath 'em!"

The cat gave an irritated smirk first before retracting it's claws, although she didn't like being told what to do, especially by Kankuro. He was like a brother to her, even though it was a well known fact he had a bit of a crush on her; which of course, gave Temari something to tease about.

She turned back to the next match. Now, all she could do was wait. Then, the jutsu should wear off.

* * *

><p>Sakura streched before blinking her eyes open the day after the pre-eliminaries to her room filled with sunlight. It was getting late. Well, late for a shinobi-too damn early for the rest of the Leaf Village.<p>

As she got dressed in her regular pink outfit, she thought about what she should do today. Perhaps she would see if Sasuke would train with her. He would almost certainly say no, but it couldn't hurt to ask. After all, she was his teammate.

Soon after she left her house, she found herself wandering the streets, searching for the anti-social Uchiha.

Walking one of the side streets, she noticed a familiar figure heading the opposite way. It was a black cat-she remembered Naruto had shown it to her yesterday, saying something about it being a kunoichi with a jutsu stuck on her.

Sakura stopped before the cat and it came to a halt as well.

"You're Sauda, right?..."

It gave a small nod.

"So..." Sakura tried to think of something to say, feeling awkward talking to a cat. "Was Kanuro or whoever mad?"

The cat tilted it's head and blinked in confusion.

"Y'know... 'cuz... the jutsu still hasn't worn off?"

The cat got a look of realization and grinned, shaking it's head.

It looked back up at Sakura with bright golden eyes and a smirk. "No, it did."

* * *

><p><strong>See? This chapter is written better, but still not that great... and it seemed so much longer whne I typed it... :(<strong>

**And yeah, having it wear off is sorta anti-climactic, but I couldn't think of anything else...**

**review, and hopefully I will be able to get more inspiration so I can at least finish chapter 4. :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Transformation

Sakura stared in disbelief at the small cat sitting in front of her.

The cat... spoke... Was she just going crazy? It was probably Naruto's fault... She would kill him later.

Right now, she searched for the right words to say. She found none.

"Hn?" the cat tilted it's head "what's wrong?" the was a hint of teasing in her voice.

Sakura stared at the black feline "Y-Y-You talk!" she finally squeaked.

Sauda sweat-dropped. "Apparently so if you're able to understand me."

"B-But... your a cat!"

"Not quite... I'm a kunoichi, just like you."

"But..."

Sauda sighed. "I guess I'll just have to show you... Release!"

With a puff of smoke, the cat was gone. Instead, there stood a girl her age with long black hair and golden eyes. She had a dark blue ninja forehead protector with the symbol of the Sand on it around her neck like Hinata. She wore a black tom-boyish short-sleeved shirt and black half-shorts with the classic black ninja sandals. Underneath the headband was what appeared to be a golden heart-shaped locket. It was shiny and looked brand new, but had the essence of being years old.

Sakura gawked in amazement.

Sauda sighed at her naivety. Giving up, she decided to just come out and explain it to her. "I use the Transformation jutsu to take on the form of a cat. I'm well known in the Sand Village for my stealth."

Sakura finally seemed to understand and suddenly felt rather stupid. "O-Oh..." but something else popped into her head "But... what was the jutsu your friend, Kanaro or whatever, was talking about earlier?"

"Kankuro." she corrected "He was a shinobi from the sound, so of course, he forced a jutsu on me that prevented me from talking. That's why I didn't say anything before." She chuckled "Sound ninjas are experts in noise, not transformations."

Sakura gave a conceited 'huff'. "Well he could be a master in both..."

There was an awkward silence between the two for a moment.

"Soo..." Sakura asked, wanting to break the silence "What were you up to before I showed up?"

Sauda shrugged "Nothing, really. Just out for a walk. You?"

"I'm gonna see if I can get Sasuke to train with me."

"The Uchiha kid?"

Sakura nodded.

Sauda gave her a smile "Want some help finding him?"

"Err... sure, if it's not too much trouble..."

Sauda grinned "Not at all. I was bored anyways." She formed a strange sign with her hands then closed her eyes. Sakura watched in curiosity. "Cat's Eyes!" Sauda named the jutsu and she was silent for several moments before she opened her eyes again. "He's that way." She said, pointing.

"How do you know that?"

"Cat's Eyes is a technique that let's you see things as if you're standing right there. Unfortunately it doesn't have great range, but it's still helpful."

"That's cool! So it's like the Byakugan?" Sakura seemed impressed.

Sauda only shrugged. "It's not as advanced and you can't see through anything. It's like speeding around while your body doesn't move. Let's go." She began to walk away with Sakura following her.

Sakura's gaze kept shifting to the golden locket around the fellow kunoichi's neck. Finally, curiosity got the best of her.

"Did your boyfriend give that to you?"

"Hm?" Sauda gave her a questioning look, making Sakura realize she hadn't emphasized what she was talking about.

"Your locket... Did your boyfriend give that to you?"

"Boyfriend?"

"The kid with the red hair? Or is it Kankuro?"

Sauda closed her eyes as she continued to walk. "Gaara's a childhood friend of mine and Kankuro is his brother, so he's like a brother to me as well."

"So... where did you get it from then?"

Sauda gave her a smile, but Sakura noticed a flash of pain in her eyes for a split second.

"I'm holding onto it for a friend."

"A friend?"

Sauda nodded "My best friend. It was going to be a birthday present for her, but she left before I had a chance to give it to her."

Sakura noted the way she said 'left'. If her best friend was leaving, wouldn't she at least say goodbye and received the gift then?

"How long ago was that?"

Sauda was silent for a moment before responding. "That was three years ago."

Sakura bit her lip. She could tell that if it had been three whole years since this friend left, she wasn't coming back. And the look of pain in Sauda's eyes said she knew as well.

Sakura could tell it was sore subject, so despite the urge to find out more, she let it drop.

A few minutes later, they began to approach the training grounds. Sakura hadn't even noticed that Sauda had transformed herself into a cat again.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Sakura called out as she saw him training by himself. He seemed to flinch when he heard her voice. He continued training with little regard for the two kunoichi.

Sakura put her hands on her hips. "Can't you at least pretend to acknowledge me?"

"Hn." He crossed his arms, finally giving up, knowing she wasn't planning on leaving him alone until she got his attention. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to see if you wanted to train with me!" she responded, ignoring his hostility.

"No."

"Why not?"

Sasuke sighed and began to walk away. "I'm done training for right now."

Sauda scoffed "Well, aren't you a bum?" she commented. Sasuke ignored the cat and passed by the two without a word.

"Why do you like him?" Sauda asked once Sasuke was out of hearing range.

"He's cute and mysterious..."

Sauda looked back at the retreating figure. "His head looks like a chicken's ass."

Sakura glared at Sauda "It-It does not!" she defended.

Sauda shrugged "Whatever. He's not so great if you ask me."

"Well neither is that Gaara guy."

Sauda raised an eyebrow. "What made you think of him?"

"Because of your relationship." she teased.

Sauda gave her a look of indifference. "He's just a friend. We've been friends since we were six." she looked away "He's the only friend I've ever had, and I'm the only one who was brave enough to even look at him, much less talk to him."

He's her only friend? That can't be true... "But... I thought you said your locket was going to be a present for your friend? So how could he be your only friend?"

Sauda remained silent. _That's right,_ she thought _I did say that, didn't I?_

"Hey! Sakura-chan!" Sakura winced at the voice.

She glanced at the cat, who had a look of amusement in it's eye before turning to face Naruto.

Naruto was waving and running towards them, a stupid grin on his face.

He stopped in front of them and his eyes landed on the black cat. "Sauda?"

"'Sup?" she asked casually.

Naruto blinked for a moment. "EHH? A TALKING CAT?"

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed "quiet down, do you want to wake up the entire Leaf Village?"

"S-Sorry," he turned back to Sauda. "B-But... your a cat, how can you talk?"

"Baka!" Sakura spat "it's a transformation jutsu!"

"Ohh..."

Sauda purred in amusement. "It took you longer to get it than he did!"

"Sh-Shut up!" the thought of thinking slower than Naruto worried her.

"There you are," a calm voice said. They turned to look in the direction it came from.

"Gaara." Sauda addressed him, not even giving him a "hi".

"You're up early. You said you wanted to sleep in."

"Well... Temari and Kankuro got in a fight."

"What about?" he seemed thoroughly uninterested.

"Well, Temari was trying to sleep, but Kankuro was snoring, so she tried to shove a pillow down his throat..." the rest didn't need explaining.

Gaara didn't seem to care that his siblings were trying to kill each other. "So what are you doing with them?" he finally asked, eying the two leaf ninja.

"I was just trying to learn where everything was. We're going to be staying here for another month, so we might as well know our way around."

Gaara only nodded. Sighing, he decided he should probably do something about his siblings. "Are they still fighting?"

Gaara noticed Sauda's ears twitch for a moment before she chuckled "Yep." Her cat ears could pick up the sounds of the argument (and a few crashes) from the room.

She began running in the direction the hotel was in. "Lets go, before someone gets poisoned."

**Hey, sorry I haven't updated in a while... I've been working on this story and I'm already on chapter 10! But the farther into the story, the longer the chapter seems to get! (I always have short chapters so that excites me...) And I promise I'll update sooner!**

**I know, the story about her friend is kinda vague, but it's supposed to be, so sorry if it's confusing... Her friend might be in the prequel, she might not be. ;) Chapter 5 gives more information on it, but I wasn't planning on revealing who her friend was until I finished with this one and working on Shippuden, but... if I was the reader, I would kill the author for doing that, so it will be revealed later in this one.**

**And thank you sooo much to everyone who reviewed! Review and I will get more encouragement for working on the story and updating! ;D So review!**


	4. Chapter 4: Sauda's Past

"Kan-kur-o... Tem-ar-i...!" a low growl equaling that of a demon's made the two sand genin stop dead in their tracks.

They glanced reluctantly at the doorway, where the door had stood no longer than about an hour ago, to see a familiar back cat standing under it, hackles risen, and eyes that could kill.

"S-Sauda..." Kankuro managed to get out despite his situation.

Sauda took a good look at the scene in front of her. In the room, furniture was knocked over and torn up, Temari's fan was sticking through the wall into the next room, Crow was decapitated, and standing in the middle of it all was Temari and Kankuro. Temari's hair was down, messy from just waking up, and she had her hands around her brother's neck, threatening to suffocate him. Kankuro's brown hair was messed up as well, and he had a hand of Crow's with a poisoned blade on the end up to Temari's own neck, threatening to slit her throat at any second. If Sauda had been any later, the two of them could already have been dead.

Sauda let out a deep irritated sigh, ignoring the murmurs of the crowd behind her.

"Isn't it embarasing to have a 12 year old that looks like a cat babysitting you?"

Knowing full well what would come next, Kankuro brought the blade away from Temari's neck, while said shinobi released her grip on his.

"Better." Sauda was clearly not at all happier in any way, despite her words. "Clean up. Now."

Both siblings sent a glare towards the cat before doing as told without a word. Sauda could be as scary as Gaara when she was mad sometimes.

Sauda turned to face the crown behind her, bowed her head apologetically, and told them to scram. No one hesitated.

She looked to the side and saw Gaara, having come at a much more leisurely pace. She stepped aside and allowed him to enter.

Temari looked up from trying to pull her fan out of the wall, and Kankuro from where he was putting Crow back together.

"Don't fight anymore." he demanded "We're going to have to stay here for another month, so don't get us kicked out of the hotel, like last time." He shot a glare at Kankuro, who quickly looked away.

Sauda chuckled to herself, remembering their last stay at a hotel. Kankuro decided to put on a puppet show that had left the kids with nightmares. Honestly, she thought it had been a good performance.

This time, with a little convincing, she was able to get the manager to let them stay.

* * *

><p>"Oi, Sauda-chan!"<p>

Sauda was destracted by the annoying blonde's voice, and was almost pierced with another senbon.

"Hey, wait! Time out!" she called to Kankuro, but he had already fired another dozen.

Sauda quickly dodged them, and they collided with the ground where she had just stood. As soon as she was safe when Kankuro had put Crow down, she turned to glare at the genin, who didn't seem to notice.

"Hey Sauda-chan, what are you doing?" how she wanted to scratch that grin off his face...

"Almost getting speared by senbons!" she replied hotly, suddenly in a bad mood.

Naruto gave her a look of confusion "Why would you do that?"

Sauda sighed in irritation "Nevermind. What do you want Naruto?"

"Do you want to train with us?" he asked excitedly like a little kid.

"I was already training with Kankuro and Temari..." she glanced at the two of them "but it would be interesting to fight someone else. Hey Kankuro, Temari!" they looked up at her "Do you guys mind training with each other?"

"Sure." Temari called out from where she stood leaning against a tree.

"Okay, Temari, don't kill him, and Kankuro, try not to poison her-we don't know if the Leaf has the right antidote."

Sauda knew full well that Temari had the upper hand since Kankuro specialized in weapons while Temari's fan could blow them away. But still, Kankuro was strong and found ways around that. Unfortunately for him, they were also in an open field not too far into the forest from the Leaf Village, letting Temari see every movement of Crow's.

"Where are you going?" Kankuro questioned.

Temari grinned "Already miss your girlfriend Kankuro?" she teased.

"Tem-ar-i...!" Sauda warned through clenched teeth. Can't she have 2 guyfriends without being teased?

Kankuro chuckled "Its not that bad Sauda; I don't mind!"

"Shut it, puppet-boy!" she spat.

Kankuro was taken aback for a moment then just glared at her.

Sauda turned to Naruto, who hadn't said a word the whole time. "C'mon, let's go."

"Wait-" Kankuro called out, but was blown into a tree.

"Keep your eyes on your opponent." Temari said cooley, leaning on her fan.

Sauda chuckled "Nice one Temari." she turned towards Kankuro "She's right. You know as well as I do that she has the upper hand in this match."

Sauda began to walk the way Naruto had come, said ninja running to catch up.

"That was kinda' mean..." he murmured.

"Hn."

"Are they your brother and sister?"

"They might as well be."

"What do you mean?"

Sauda sighed "Well ever since my mom died when I was eight, I've been living with them. Temari and Kankuro are practicly kin."

"Oh, sorry..."

Sauda paused for a moment "My mom was rather... a nuisence. She always cried if I came home 5 minutes late, and the mention of Gaara's name scared her to death. I'm rather certain there was something wrong with her head."

It was silent for a moment as what Sauda just told him settled into Naruto's head. "You said Temari and Kankuro were like siblings; what about Gaara?"

"Gaara's been my best friend ever since we were six. No one dared to even look at him. I didn't have any friends either and I could tell he was a sweet kid, and one time when we were having a test on our ability to dodge, Gaara didn't move and the kunai went right by him, but it hit all the other students who were too slow. I told our sensei to actually throw it in order to make sure Gaara could dodge, and he took me out into the hall... He told me to never say anything like that in front of Gaara or he'd kill us...

"I had never realized until then that the rest of the Sand Village children were being raised on lies told to them by the elders... They avoided him simply because they feared him from the stories they've heard.

"But I knew Gaara wasn't that bad and I tried to tell that to Koshi-sensei but he wouldn't listen. I was so mad I didn't realize I had been shouting and I said "If no one else wants to be Gaara's friend, then I will!" Apparently I had been loud enough for the rest of my classmates to hear, the look on their faces was priceless!" Sauda laughed whole-heartedly. "And Gaara was even more surprised-he couldn't even manage to speak!"

Naruto smiled slightly. 'So she stood up for him, huh? When no one else dared to speak of him. She thought for herself, and refused to be like everyone else... Just another set of disapproving eyes...' His gaze became slightly more sad as images of being alone and avoided flashed through his head.

"I'm sure he appriciated it though..."

Sauda blinked at Naruto, slightly surprised then nodded before a somber expression came over her face. "Several times I had heard rumors of people trying to assasinate him... And times I was there when they did so."

Naruto stared at Sauda in shock, but she seemed unphased by his reaction as she continued. "Some of them attempted to break into his house in the middle of the night. They were the stupid ones."

"Why's that?"

"If they had known anything about Gaara, they would know that he doesn't sleep," She looked up through the leaves as they continued to walk. "Invading enemy territory-especially when the enemy was sitting around, waiting for something to happen. They didn't die as ninjas, not in the least bit."

"Died? All of them?" Sauda caught a hint of fear in Naruto's voice.

"Yep. Out of them, even the smart ones who attacked from a distance when he was distracted, none of them were able to scratch him. And they never knew what hit 'em." Her voice was rather casual.

"You say that like it's nothing..." Naruto pointed out.

She shrugged "I suppose I'm just used to it. I've even seen days where I myself have been attacked; simply for being his friend."

"That's... horrible..." Naruto felt his chest well up with pity. As shunned as he was, he was never attacked before. From the sounds of it, Gaara put up with it every other day.

Sauda sighed "I'm just glad Kankuro and Temari were never hurt- they're the ones I'm more worried about. Gaara's sand isn't called the 'Ultimate Defense' for nothing. But they're helpless compared to him."

"I've been meaning to ask... this guy's 'Ultimate Defense'... It protects him without him having to do anything or even knowing he's being attacked. How does that work?"

Sauda cast a suspicious glare in his direction. "Why should I tell you?"

Naruto was startled by her sudden hostality to say the least "Wel-I-I was just curious, I didn't mean anything by it!"

Sauda returned her gaze to the path ahead of them. "That's a secret. Sorry, there's just many people who would like to know how to penetrate his defenses, if you haven't been able to figure that out from what I've told you."

"I understand. It's fine, you don't have to tell me." Sauda nodded in acknowledgement and the conversation ended.

Naruto turned to his own thoughts. 'He's had it worse than me... When he wasn't being ignored, he was being attacked... I wonder why...'

They arrived upon a training field just a little ways away from the edge of the village, which was in sight. It seemed to be empty.

Sauda stopped next to Naruto and looked around. "I thought you said 'train with us'- where is everyone else?"

Naruto blinked in confusion. "I don't know... Sakura-chan!" he called out, but a male voice answered.

"She left."

Naruto looked at the newcomer in surprise. "Shikamaru?"

Sauda recognized him as one of the two people who had tried to grab the scroll from her. If she remembered correctly, he was a user of shadow-type ninjutsu.

She grinned at the irritated look of recognition on his face. "'Sup' Shadow?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the cat "Transformation jutsu, huh?"

Sauda chuckled "Looks like Shadow is smarter than I thought! You're the first one to not freak out and actually guess my simple technique."

"Tch. Stupid cat." Sauda smirked.

Naruto looked between the two of them. "You guys have met before?"

Shikamaru sighed "During the second test of the exams. Ino and I had to chase her around for her scroll, which turned out to be the same scroll as ours. Then she ended up handing it to Choji," he glanced at Sauda "Why did you give it to him anyways?"

Sauda shrugged. "We already had both of the scrolls and some guys were too stupid to pass anyways. As for Choji, he was the only one not chasing me around. I was planning on giving it to the girl at first, but she talked to me like a hurt puppy. That stuff may get mutts excited, but it's demeaning for cats."

Shikamaru nodded in understanding.

"So, Shikamaru, what were you up to before we came?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"I was planning on visiting Lee in the hospital," he glanced at Sauda "since your friend crushed his arm and leg."

Sauda chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that would be Gaara..." she then looked curious "that kid is really something, I'm impressed! Gaara's never even been scratched before, and he actually made Temari and Kankuro worry he might lose!"

"He's never gotten hurt before?" Naruto asked "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said-," she stated blankly "-Gaara's never gotten hurt. He even asked me one time what pain felt like... He's even tried to hurt himself before, but his sand's always protected him."

"Really?"

Sauda rolled her eyes "Yes, really."

"Naruto," Shikamaru interrupted "weren't you suppost be in the hospital?"

Naruto looked at him in surprise. "Well, yeah, but... I can't lay around waiting to heal, I have to train!" he was practicly shouting "and plus, I wanna see some killer Sand technuiques!" Naruto added.

"Wait," Sauda demanded "why were you in the hospital?" She felt like a completely lame shinobi, just noticing he was wrapped in bandages now.

Naruto's eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment "Yesterd-well.. 3 days ago I guess... I learned to ride a frog!"

Sauda and Shikamaru gave him a sympathetic gaze.

Sauda's ears laid flat "You learned to ride... a... frog?..." man, this kid was more messed up than she thought.

Naruto grinned "Yep!"

Sauda and Shikamaru exchanged a glance of concern for their friend.

"Well," Shikamaru attempted to change the subject "since Sakura obviously won't train with you, wanna come visit Lee?"

"Sure," Naruto looked at Sauda.

Said cat smiled "I'll come."

Shikamaru nodded and they left in the direction of the hospital.

**Only 2 reviews... TOTAL? I mean, the beginning wasn't good and not many people search these kinds of stories, but really! You're hurting my feelings... and for once, I'm not joking.**

**But thank you sooo so much to my reviewers, XxBishxX and Meatbun Attack! U PPL ARE NICE!**

**Why do I even bother... I mean, I just started on chapter 13, but why should I continue? I love writing this, but it's not like anyone even reads my story... not even you, Night Hawk. (lol how u read this... I'm probably gonna send u a message to fuck the prequel and this is the only one I care about)...**

**Seriously, I'm really offended.**

**No joke.**

**So, if you read my story, whether you like it or not, just review. Criticism is completely welcome, I just want to know my readers exist.**

**...Please... just review... :(**


	5. Chapter 5: Bonds

**Chapter 5: Bonds**

"Sauda."

"Gaara?"

Sauda was rather surprised to say the least. She had never expected to see Gaara in the hospital before. Normally, the thought would make her worry, but this time, it wasn't his life who was in danger.

"What are you-?" Naruto began, eyes darting to the sand climbing up around Lee's unconcious body.

Gaara ignored the other two boys beside Sauda "What are you doing here?" his voice was calm.

"I was... going to train with them, but... they wanted to come visit him first." she answered, notioning to the boy on the bed.

Gaara didn't respond- which meant he couldn't care less- and his gaze fell upon the two boys.

"What were you trying to do Bushy Brow?" Naruto demanded again.

"I was trying to kill him." Gaara's stated simply.

"Why would you want to do that?" Shikamaru asked "You already beat him in the fight! Do you hold a personal grudge against him, or something?"

"It's nothing like that." Gaara replied "I just wanted to kill him, that's it."

"How can you say something so selfish," Naruto shouted "kono teme?"

"You... You had a lousy upbringing, didn't you?" Shikamaru guessed "All you care about is yourself."

"Shut up!" Sauda hissed loudly at the two of them through clenched teeth.

They both stared at her in shock.

"You're siding with him? How... How can you be friends with this guy?" Naruto demanded.

Sauda narrowed her eyes, feeling one of them twitch. She unsheathed her claws and bared razor-sharp fangs. Instictively, her hackles rose and she let out a low warning growl.

"If you get in my way," Gaara interrupted "I'll kill you both."

"Just go ahead and try!"

"Naruto!" Shikamaru hissed "What are you doing? Don't get him even more mad!"

"Heh, I'm not scared," Naruto challenged, still glaring at Gaara "there's a monster inside of me."

Sauda's eyes widened in shock. Noticing this, Naruto sent a triumphant smirk, but she had already regained her serious composure.

"A monster, huh?..." Gaara was unphased. "Me too."

Now it was Naruto's turn to give in to shock, especially when Gaara explained about the Shukaku and his life as he was growing up. It was just like Sausa had said. Even his own father tried to kill him. Somewhere along the story Gaara had gotten that hysterical look on his face, making Sauda worry.

It didn't take too long for Shikamaru's Shadow Possesion Jutsu to wear off. At that point, Gaara lifted his hand and the sand began swirling around the room, threatening to attack.

"Enough!" a voice interrupted. They looked to the door to see the same man who had saved Lee yesterday.

"Guy-sensei..." Shikamaru said, relieved someone had come to the rescue.

"The match is tomorrow. Save the fighting for then."

Gaara sent a hateful glare at Guy. Reconizing him, Gaara flinched, his head in his hands as the painful memories overwhelmed him.

"Gaara!" Sauda called, running over to him and raising a paw as if she was about to help him, but couldn't since she was a cat. It was nothing to release her jutsu for since it happened every once in a while, but she still couldn't help but worry.

He seemed to recover quickly and moved slowly towards the door, pausing with every step and still holding one hand to his head. Gaara stopped in the doorway, glaring at each of the three from the corner of one eye, then slowly left the room, the pause still in his pace.

Sauda followed silently, casting an emotionless glance at the two boys as she left, ignoring the disturbed and horrified exression on each of their faces.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, I was going to end it there, but that's only 674 words... so here u go. ;)<strong>

Sakura blink in surprise. "She what!"

"Gaara was trying to kill Lee, and Sauda was on his side!"

"Quit lying Naruto!"

Naruto glared at Shikamaru, who was sitting on the bench of the hospital hallway after they ran into Sakura. He was in his 'Thinking Position'.

"Shikamaru," Naruto complained "you were there, tell Sakura-chan I'm not lying!"

"Be quiet, Naruto!" Shikamaru hissed "I'm trying to figure it out... she seemed nice earlier... somewhat. So, why would she defend a muderer?"

"Y-You mean-..." Sakura studdered "You mean Sauda actually sided with Gaara?For real?"

"That's what I've been saying!" Naruto shouted, his hands up.

"Well, your not the most reliable person..."

"What's that suppost to mean?"

"Naruto," Shikamaru interrupted "Did Sauda tell you anything about Gaara?"

Naruto looked at Shikamaru "Uh, yeah... She was pretty open about it actually..."

"What did she say?"

"She said... She's been friends with him since she was little.. something about all of the people in the Sand Village were teaching their kids not to talk to him, so she declared she would be his friend..."

"Everyone avoided him... So she became friends with him out of pity?"

"Pity has nothing to do with it."

They all turned to see the familiar black cat padding down the hallway.

"It's not nice to talk about people behind their backs, you know."

Naruto glared at Sauda "You."

Sauda raised an eyebrow. "Such a warm welcome."

"What was that earlier?" Naruto hissed.

"What was what?" she asked, little concern in her voice.

"He was trying to kill Bushy Brow, and you took his side!"

"And?"

"Killing is wrong! How can you justify that?"

Sauda looked away "Gaara's the one who kills people. But as for me, I don't kill. When I was nine, I watched someone very important to me screaming in pain as she was dragged off, only two days before her birthday, which she couldn't wait for. We had planned a huge surprise party for her and everything." Sauda's transformation jutsu was released in a puff of smoke. Her hand gently pulled on a golden chain around her neck until a heart shaped locket slid out from under her ninja headband around her neck. "This was going to be her present," she explained, tears forming in her eyes "I wanted her to have the best birthday party ever. Kankuro and Temari were going to set up the party decorations while Gaara and I kept her busy for the day and pretended that was her birthday gift." She felt the tears in her eyes fall down her cheeks. "But... on the day of the party the man who took her appeared and told me she was dead... She meant the world to me, and it's my fault she's dead. There's only one person I wish to kill, and it's the man who took her.

"Gaara's my friend, and he kills who he wants; I've grown used to that. But he wasn't always like that. He used to be a sweet kind-hearted little boy. He once hurt a girl by accident, so he brought her some medecine that night." She shook her head. "She said "Go home, freak" and slammed the door in his face. That being the way people treated him, I'm not surprised he's killed some of them."

Turning to Naruto, she continued. "I told you that the adults in the Sand Village were telling their kids not to talk to Gaara..." she let out a sigh "Gaara was all alone because of that, and he was a sweet innocent little boy; I don't know how they could do that. It disgusts me." Sauda looked at Shikamaru "I wanted to prove to them that Gaara was nice, and I wanted to be his friend. It has nothing to do with pity."

Sauda let out another sigh "But after being treated like a monster for so long, when that incident happened, he became the image that they thought he was."

When Sauda was finished with her long explanation, she looked back and forth between the three genin, waiting for a response. The silence dragged on as they took what she had just told them into consideration.

Shikamaru was the first to speak. "Both of you mentioned 'that incident'. What would that incident be?"

Sauda took a deep breath. "Like Gaara said, his mother died giving birth to him and his dad wanted him dead. Kankuro and Temari never spent much time with him, so he couldn't ask them for help with anything. The one who took care of him was his aunt, Yashamaru. Yashamaru was always kind to Gaara. She was his best friend. After that girl slammed the door in his face, he was attacked on his roof. He quickly used his sand burial to almost kill them. As the person was dying he took off the mask... it was Yashamaru."

The three Leaf ninja stiffened and Naruto let out a silent gasp. "Why?"

Sauda looked out the window. "She told him she had been ordered by his dad to kill him. Gaara was a little relieved that she was forced to do it... but she told him he was wrong. She said that she could have turned it down if she wanted to. But she didn't. She wanted to kill him. Yashamaru told Gaara that she had always hated him because his birth took the life of her sister... She tried to love him, but she found that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. She told him that he was all alone-that he was never loved. Then she died."

Sauda didn't take her eyes of the window. The sun was going to set in about an hour. "He hasn't been the same since. Ever since that night, he hasn't trusted anyone, not even me. He asked how could he know that I would never betray him. I told him I would never even think of doing something like that. I promised Gaara I would never betray him, and in the case I actually did, which of course will never happen, I would have no objection to letting him kill me. Now, that promise is the bond we have. I betray him, he kills me. It's that simple." She looked at Naruto, knowing he would have an objection.

He did. "That's not a real bond! Why would you promise you would let him kill you?"

"I'm not a traitor, like Yashamaru!" she shouted, startling the Leaf ninja. She quieted down "If I betrayed Gaara, then that wouldn't be me. I will protect Gaara until the day I die. And even then, I will protect him from my grave." Tears formed in her eyes again. "I refuse to let anymore loved ones die because of me!"

"What about the people Gaara has killed, you don't think someone said the same thing about them before they died?"

Sauda stiffened and looked away. She was sick of this conversation. "Whatever. Just stay out of this. I didn't expect you to understand anyways." She began to turn and walk away, but was stopped as Naruto grabbed her wrist. "Let go." she threatened.

"I refuse to stay out of this."

"It has nothing to do with you!"

"It does if you two are trying to kill my friend!"

Sauda was silent, glaring at him with the corner of one eye. After a moment, she yanked her wrist free of his grasp and walked away.

**Omg thank you guys for reviewing! It made my day and made me feel special! (the doctor already said I was, but still) ;D**

**Also, I'm having too much fun with this story to stop (some girl just glared at me for typing too loud) 0.o**

**But I finally got to the part where the story starts to pick up, on chapter 14 (well, 13 now) so yea, my story is gonna be long, sorry about that. E3**

**Also, I wanted to point out that Sauda's relationship with Gaara is more of a puppy-love one. The only reason Gaara wanted to find Sauda in chapter 1 is because you need ALL your team mates to complete the third round, otherwise he would have left without a word. Just wanted to clear that up.**

**Review! (yeah, I'm typing chick, stop wasting energy to turn around and look every few seconds.)**


	6. Chapter 6: Chuunin Exams

**Chapter 6: Chuunin Exams**

"This... This can't be right!"

Sauda watched in amusement at his reaction.

"My opponent is that stupid cat?"

He knew her?

"Hey," she spat, startling him "don't go dissin' on the cat!"

"You bastard!" the rookie shouted.

"Based on the fact that you call me a stupid cat and a bastard, I assume we've met before?" she replied nonchalantly.

"You stole my scroll!" he hissed.

Sauda paused for a moment then her face lit up. "Ahh, now I remember! You made it through?"

"Yes." he growled through clenched teeth.

"Roko," what Sauda assumed was his teammate called out "don't let her get to you! She's just trying to get you worked up!"

Sauda laughed. "I'm not trying to do anything, don't act so special!"

Roko grinded his teeth "I'm going to kill you..."

"Good luck with that." The cat let out a yawn "This is starting to get boring. Can we just fight already?"

"I'll give you a fight, all right..." Roko growled.

"I haven't had a real good fight in a while... so don't make this too easy for me."

"I'm not holding back!"

Sauda quickly jumped out of the way as a kunai landed in the dust behind her.

As soon as she landed she stood on her hind legs and made a hand sign with her paws. "Shining Claws Jutsu!" she exclaimed, falling back onto all fours, but her claws looked like short blades on the front two paws.

Roko charged at her. Sauda smirked in irritation. That definately wouldn't work. How stupid was this guy?

She paused and let him come to her. Sauda's 'Shining Claws Jutsu' was good for being used like a bladed knuckler, but it's downside was that it didn't help with running. Any inexperienced user of it wouldn't be able to take three steps without tripping. But even a master of her technuique tended to be slowed.

As Roko quickly approached her, Sauda stood on hind legs and raked her claws across his chest. 'Bullseye!' she thought, then a flash of realization struck through her, and she immediately sidestepped, losing the tips of some fur as a blade landed in the dead center of where she had just stood, and she ignored her 'opponent' as he turned into water and fell to the ground.

'When did he make a water clone?' She asked herself, but had no time to think up an answer and had to quickly jump to the side again as she evaded another attack. 'This guy's faster than I expected!'

Sauda jumped just in time to dodge a kunai. By the time she noticed the paper bomb on it, it was too late.

The shock sent her flying, but she landed on all fours, skidding across the ground. Roko burst out from the smoke within moments. Sauda again just barely dodged.

'If I don't do something fast, I'll be done for!' Sauda was suddenly struck with an idea. Her new jutsu wasn't mastered yet, but she knew she would be fine if she concentrated.

Roko threw another kunai and paper bomb. Sauda smirked. Perfect.

She leapt into the air, making two rapid hand signs as she did so. "Camoflauge Jutsu!"

Roko looked around as the smoke cleared, puzzled. The cat was no where to be seen.

From the stands, Kankuro leaned forward. "What the-...?"

Temari chuckled "Dont be too surprised, she did mention she was learning a new jutsu."

"Well, yeah, but... she's not done with it!"

"Well she obviously knows what she's doing, so just shut up and watch."

Sauda was concentrating, not moving a muscle and keeping her breathing steady and silent, chest flattened against the ground. Her ears picked up her comrade's conversation, but it took even more concentration not to twitch her ear; a common habit when overhearing something. But still, she smirked inwardly at Temari's comment. Of course she knew what she was doing. This of course wasn't her first time using her new jutsu, but it was the first time she used it in battle... And yet no one could see her to appreciate it. Well... as long as Roko was looking her direction they couldn't.

Finally, exactly that happened. Roko turned his back to her. 'Heh, idiot!'

She quickly but quietly slunk forwards, hoping Roko didn't hear the quiet gasps that came from the crowds. He began to turn back around and she immediately held still. His gaze landed on her... and then moved on. She mentally sighed in relief. It was the first time showing of her new jutsu that she had learned in a trip to the Land of Rock, and of course, like anyone, she wanted to make an impression.

As soon as he turned away from her again, she stalked forward again, her tail lightly swishing over the dirt. She was a cat hunting her prey.

As she did so, a few murmers came from the crowd. She knew they could see her. The first sign of her opponent turning, and she held still, becoming invisible once again.

Her 'Camoflauge Jutsu' wasn't yet completely mastered, but still highly effective. Staying still, she was invisible, but the moment she moved, she could be seen.

Soon enough, she was within reach of her opponent. He looked behind him one last time. Sauda sprang.

Roko, seeing the movement in the corner of his eye, turned in surprise. Sauda raked her claws down his chest and he let out a howl of pain.

Roko saw his chance, and wincing in pain, kicked Sauda in the stomach-hard.

'Damn... it's... that same spot!' Her stomach had been damaged when she got in a fight when she was little. The village had no med nin, so therefore, whenever she was hit in the same spot, the wound would reopen.

She let out an 'oof' and flew into the arena wall, spitting out a little blood as she heard a faint crack, and forcing her transformation to wear off.

"SAUDA!" she heard Kankuro shout from the stands. She ignored him. She had wanted a decent fight, and that's what she had gotten. But it wasn't over yet.

She slowly picked herself up, her ribs aching. She was pretty sure a few of them were broken. That was the disadvantage to having a small body.

Sauda wiped the blood off the corner of her mouth. She winced as a sharp pain split up her side.

Roko was in bad condition as well. He was holding his cheast and panting heavily. One more hit and he would probobly fall.

Sauda grinded her teeth. Only one month and he had already gotten much better.

"Damn you!" he shouted, making handsigns.

"Oh, no you don't!" Sauda made rapid signs "Eternal Darkness Jutsu!" Sauda's eyes began to glow, and Roko stopped dead in his tracks. She could tell that all he could see was black. On the other hand, if Sauda took her eyes off him, even for a second, the genjutsu would be realeased.

Sauda, panting, kneeled down and gathered her chakra. For about 30 seconds, she allowed herself to rest.

"Host Transformation: Two-Tails!"

**Okay, sorry, I haven't really been paying attention to how long ago I updated, so I really have no clue. :P**

**I spent the day with my mom's boyfriend's children... *shutters***

**The oldest one, Clay, he's 7... yea, he's definitely his dad's son... not only did he call his sister the 'D' word (for no reason), and loves 'California Girls' and sings it all the time... but today he was torturing my cat and pushed his eyes back n called him Asian, so I called him a racist... he didn't know what that meant, but he DID obviously know what a rapist was... '-_- he then proceeded to pretend he was one and... acted it out... I audio recorded it on my phone...**

**Yes, these children are very messed up... TTo^oTT help...**

**Also my best friend who usually helps me babysit them was taking care of her nephew... she also has a niece that scares me... she's 5 and drew a perverted picture of a cow peeing... it was clearly a male... She also asked her mom to push her sister... "I don't know, because it would hurt?"**

**And Clay hit his 3 year old sister in the head with a bat... His defense: "She walked right into it!"**

**But anyways, my cousin grandpa, uncle, aunt, and their dog are helping to redo my garage roof...**

**And when the dog licked himself, my mom's boyfriend told my cous who he just met "I bet you wish you could do that!" XD my poor cousin had no clue what to say. XD (Now you see where his son gets it from...)**

**But yeah, enough about my mom's perverted boyfriend and his children, so sorry I haven't updated, but as you can see, I've been... busy...**

**So please review to take my mind off of the horrors that is the next generation. :3**

**I also got into Maplestory again... uh-oh... (LEVEL 51! NEW RECORD!)**


	7. Chapter 7: Chuunin Exams part 2

**Chuunin Exams part 2**

"What?" Kankuro spat over the gasps of the crowd. "She-She released the Kasha?"

"Relax." Temari shushed "She would never do something that stupid."

Sauda sturggled as a wave of darkness and bloodlust washed over her, but she pushed it back.

Catching her breath, she glanced down at herself. She was now in the form of a calico cat with two tails, and was the size of a panther.

Tounge gliding smoothly over sharp fangs, she looked back up to Roko, now that his genjutsu was released. He was busy gawking at the transformation.

Sauda took the opportunity to lunge at the water ninja. He seemed to snap out of his trance just in time to leap a few feet away.

Sauda snarled and lashed out in the direction he landed. Again, Roko dodged, this time landing on the wall of the arena and stuck to it using his chakra.

Pouncing and again missing, Sauda let out a hiss of annoyance. "You're really starting to piss me off!"

Sauda jumped from the wall and formed quick handsigns. "Rapid Strike Jutsu!"

Suddenly, Roko could feel his feet trapped by rock. He quickly looked around to realize he was surrounded by slabs of ground forming a circle around him.

The giant cat bolted forward, transforming into a regular sized version of the Two-Tails.

Sliping through a space between two slabs, she jumped onto one before she became a blur. She would land on one slab, and immediately jump to another, raking her claws across the trapped ninja as she did so. He felt like a scratching post.

In one sudden movement, Sauda felt Roko's elbow collide with her sholder blade, and went crashing into one of her own rock slabs. The attack forced the rock-style jutsu to release, and Roko felt his feet free.

"Whirlpool Jutsu!"

Sauda scrambled from her opponent, but came face-to-face with a swirling wall of water. Looking around, she realized she was surrounded by it, and it was slowly closing in on her.

'Only one place left to go...' she thought. Kasha may be her enemy, but his form came in handy. She felt the skin on her back changing, forming into wings. This earned another gasp from the crowd.

Sauda jumped, spreading her wings and launched herself at her opponent. The stunned water ninja took the attack head on, and collapsed to the dust of the arena as the whirlpool dissolved with his defeat.

Sauda, transforming back to a human, slowly made her way over to him. She gazed down at the unconcious figure at her feet. She had won.

She looked at the proctor expectantly. He cautiously walked over and checked Roko. He gave Sauda a small nod before moving to her and holding her hand in the air. "The winner of this round is... Sachikuro Sauda!"

Sauda heard the crowd cheer. Especially Kankuro. She rolled her eyes at him.

She made her way over to the exit of the arena, clutching her side. There, she was greeted by a calm Temari and a over-worried Kankuro.

"Sauda! That was awesome! Are you alright?" He was stuck between concern and excitement.

Sauda leaned against the door way. "I'm fine." she gave him a small reassuring smile. Kankuro shouldn't have to worry about her. "But... Aren't you suppose to be watching Gaara?"

"Baki is." Temari told her. They already had gotten a good scolding from him last night. "The next match is about to begin. We should head back."

Sauda nodded and followed Temari, Kankuro ready at her side. Mentally she sighed. She didn't need any help. She was perfectly fine. That's what she thought until suddenly, everything went black.

**OMG SHORTNESS! D: Sorry it's so short, I thought it was soo much longer! I mean, it's only 611 words!**

**But anyways, I wasn't planning on updating, but here it is, a birthday gift from me to you ;D**

**You may have noticed but probably not that I changed the rating to T. That's only because Sauda uses the 'b' word ^-^**

**So plz review, ignoring the shortness, while I eat some birthday cake and sulk in a corner for not getting EITHER of my two birthday wishes... an new laptop cuz this one overheats and crashes, or an xbox. :D**


	8. Chapter 8: Hospitals

Neko no Jutsu: Chapter 8

**Hospitals**

It was so cool... Just a moment ago everything had been hot... Where was she?

Sauda forced her eyes open to the whiteness of a hospital room. The first thing she felt was an intense pain shooting up her side. She winced, clutching her side.

"Ah, you're awake." Sauda looked over to see Kankuro entering the room. "Good."

"Kankuro, where are we?"

"We're back in Suna. You've been out cold for three days."

Sauda blinked in surprise. "Three days? But... my injuries aren't that bad!"

He shook his head "It turns out you broke six ribs and have some internal bleeding," Kankuro then glared at her, "and apparently you haven't gotten much sleep recently."

Sauda looked away.

"What's with that?"

"Hmph."

"I can make you talk," he threatened.

"Gaara and I have been training... I wanted to be faster so I can dodge attacks more easily... I've really improved..."

Kankuro sighed. "You're fast as hell. But you need to get some rest to keep up with your speed."

"Yeah, yeah..." Sauda made a handsign. "Transfo-"

"Hey!" He grabbed her hand to stop her. "The doctor said you need to keep your form so you can heal."

She cursed under her breath. "Looks like I'm gonna have to get used to two legs again..."

Kankuro chuckled.

Suddenly, a thought struck her. "What about the chuunin exams?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Well... Sasuke finally showed up and when the match began, some guy pretending to be my dad attacked the Leaf Village and Gaara fought that blonde kid, and the Shukaku was released, the brat summoned a giant toad and beat the Shukaku and Gaara, and so we came home." He briefed it up in one long continuous sentence. "Oh yeah, and the real Kazekage's dead."

Sauda closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips. "So he's dead, huh? What irony. Spends his life trying to assasinate his own son for being a monster, and ends up being assasinated himself by a one... But since he's dead, that means we need a new Kage, which is usually the strongest shinobi in the village..." she frowned "who in this case, would be Gaara..."

Kankuro grinned. "I can tell, you can't wait for that, can you? You trust your comrades so much!"

She nudged him "Hey, shut up! You know what I meant!"

He chuckled "I know, but if it wasn't for the killing, he might actually make a good leader. I mean he's team captain, well, besides Baki, and Temari hardly gets hurt. You and I, well, we're the morons who do our own thing."

Sauda laughed "That's an understatement!"

"And just so you know, that was a pretty pathetic fight."

"Shut up!"

There was a silence in the room before a loud growl came. She clutched her stomach, although making her wince, in hunger. "Right, I forgot... I haven't eaten in three days."

Kankuro chuckled "Lets go get something to eat."

"Yeah, I'm starved!" Sauda looked down at what she was wearing. The same pants as the day of the exams, and bandages wrapped from her waist to her shoulders. Times like this made her really glad she didn't have a huge bust... "But I need a change of clothes..."

Kankuro sighed, taking off his shirt. "Wear this for now. We'll go back home so you can change."

"Thanks."

Sauda sighed, closing the door behind her. She opened her eyes to her familiar room. Instead of living all alone at her house, she had been invited to live with Gaara and his siblings.

Her room was painted black and reminded her of her room at her old house. The room was rather oddly shaped, with what seemed like a short hallway then opened to the rectangular section of the room. The section cut out of her room to the right of the hallway was actually the closet, and next to the closet doors, which were purple, on the right wall, was a dark bookshelf with cat bookends. In the far wall right corner, were a series of soft blocks in the shape of a pyramid that went 3/5 of the way up the wall. Each block was either purple, or black. Hanging from each of those two walls, was a purple hammock close to the ceiling, and had thick black blankets and a pillow on it. Directly in front of her in the far left corner was a purple circular chair.

Sauda walked to her closet and looked at the clothes hanging. After changing out of her dirty pants and Kankuro's shirt, she paused for a moment, examining the bandages covering her back. They were surrounded by black and blue.

She sighed in annoyance before picking out a light yellow tanktop and a black sweatshirt and khakis. Ever since she was little she loved black, so it colored about 50% of her stuff. After all, the meaning of her name was both love and black.

Figuring Kankuro was ready, she threw his shirt into the open door of his room and headed downstairs.

"Where do you want to go?" Kankuro asked as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Sushi!" Sauda replied imediately.

Kankuro rolled his eyes. "Geez, you only transform into a cat, you aren't actually one!"

Sauda pouted and put her hands on her hips, which greeted her with a shock of pain. Damn that Roko guy...

"I know," she argued "so I'm not allowed to like sushi because I already like cats?"

"That's not what I-"

"So then, what's the problem?"

Kankuro sighed, giving up. "N-Nevermind. Let's just go." He knew full well what happened when people accused her of thinking she actually was a cat.

Sauda smirked. "That's what I thought."

"Demon child..." *thump* "Itai!"

"You deserved it."

**There, a longer chapter! :3**

**Wait... looking over it, that's not very long either... 'l'^-^**

**well... I'll just post chapter 9 sooner! ;D**

**BTW I drew the picture for the story E3 lol Google didn't have any cute ones of Gaara with cat ears and a tail...**


	9. Chapter 9: The Bakeneko

Neko no Jutsu Chapter 9

**The Bakaneko's Return**

"Née-san! Née-san!"

"Hm?" Sauda looked over her shoulder to see two small cats run up to her, both a light caramell with dark brown stripes and an 'M' on their foreheads. "Ah, Kotoko! Koyomi!"

"Née-san, what happened to you?" the smaller of the two, Kotoko asked.

Sauda rubbed the back of her neck. "I err... well, I got in a fight..."

Koyomi gasped "With who? Are you all right? Where is he?"

Sauda chuckled. "I think he was from the Mist... but don't worry, I won!"

"Of course you did, Née-san!" said Kotoko. "There's no you could lose!"

"Why did you get in a fight?"

"Koyomi, I'm a ninja! I get in fights all the time!"

"Yeah, sis! You should know this by now!"

"Sorry, I forgot!" Koyomi defended. "Anyways, what 'cha up to, Née-san?"

"Oh, right!" Sauda reached into her backpack and pulled out a small brown paper bag and held it out to them. "Kankuro and I just got sushi, so I saved some for you guys."

"Wa-ow!" Kotoko gasped in awe while Koyomi drooled. "You're the best, Née-san!" Kotoko squealed.

Sauda chuckled. 'Kawaii!'

Kotoko and Koyomi bowed their heads in respect. "Arigato, Née-san!"

Sauda stood up. "Well, I'll see you guys later."

"Bye, Née-san!" The two cats shouted over their shoulder as they ran off.

Sauda smiled and turned back to Kankuro, who she had almost forgotten about.

Kankuro sighed and shook his head.

"What?" she demanded.

"You're the only one I know who can have a casual conversation with a cat and think nothing of it..."

Sauda smirked. "I'm the only one you know who can have any kind of convesation with a cat."

Kankuro chuckled "Good point, but you know what I meant."

A thought suddenly occurred to Sauda. "Oh, I wonder where Damien is? I didn't see him when we went home..."

"Your mutant cat? I didn't see him."

Sauda glared daggers at Kankuro. "He is not a mutant cat!" she hissed "How many times do I have to tell you, he's a nekomata!"

"It's a talking feline with two tails. He's a mutant cat."

Sauda punched him in the side. "Quit bein' a wise-ass! Nekomatas are considered magical creatures. Besides, I highly suggest you don't speak badly of talking two-tailed cats. You-know-who won't be very happy..."

Kankuro sighed "Osamu can't hear me. We don't even know where he is."

"Exactly!" Sauda loudly hissed "Osamu-sensei is an expert in stealth! He taught me everything I know! Underestimate him, and you'll surely die!"

"You have bad taste in mentors..."

"Do not! I've learned more from talking with Kotoko and Koyomi than I have from Baki, and you think he's a good sensei! Osamu-sensei is a great teacher!"

"He's too strict."

"He wants me to become strong!"

"So does his brother, but he's encouraging!"

"Raiden-sensei has nothing to do with this!"

"Your sensei is a cat!"

"He's a bakeneko!"

"He's a demon!"

"Well then, I'm learning from my own kind!" With a snarl, she stormed off.

Kankuro was silent for a moment then sighed to himself. 'Crap. Why did I have to go and bring that up? Her and my own brother both host demons, shouldn't I know not to say anything about that by now? What is wrong with me?'

* * *

><p>"Hey, I thought you were with Sauda?" Temari questioned as Kankuro shut the door behind him.<p>

"She's in a bad mood."

Temari rolled her eyes. "What now?"

"Hey, I just said her sensei was too strict! Don't blame me! All he says is that she's weak!"

"She's tough, that doesn't mean a thing to her. She just wants to become strong. And he does a great job teaching her, so don't insult Osamu, he's like family to her."

"So are we!"

"Yeah, but he's not a conceited wise-ass like some people!"

"Look, Temari, I'm not in the mood, just leave me alone." Kankuro sighed as he headed upstairs.

Temari shook her head. 'Why can't he just let it go? Kankuro and Osamu are a bit similar in some ways, yet he still insults him. Not to mention that it's none of his buisness anyways. He never gives her any personal space, no wonder they fight constantly.'

* * *

><p>Sauda sat at the base of the wall, just outside the village. It was the first time she was able to watch the sunset in the Hidden Sand Village. It was a dark red; a lot different than the purple ones in the Hidden Leaf.<p>

Sauda sighed. Kankuro could be such a pain sometimes... He had no right to judge her sensei. He didn't know Osamu-sensei well enough to insult him. Sure, Osamu-sensei called her weak and useless a lot, but that's what she asked for. He was hard to please, and that's exactly why she sought his recognition of her strength. His brother, Raiden-sensei, was the exact opposite. He praised too much, and she would never be able to tell whether she truely was strong. Raiden-sensei's praise were only empty words to her.

A slight movement caught her eye, and in a split second the snake had a kunai whirling towards it's skull. The kunai landed directly next to it's head. The only damage done was to the snake's shedding skin. It glared at her with glossy red eyes.

Sauda sighed and tilted her head back against the wall, her eyes closed. She smirked. "Do you have a death wish?"

The snake let out a bone-chilling hiss. Unintimidated, Sauda chuckled. "You of all beings should know I hate snakes. It's been a long time, Sensei."

The snakes head lifted. "Indeed." It said in a deep voice. "And you have only seemed to have grown worse. Your aim is terrible."

"Maybe it has something to do with how my sensei just woke up one morning and decided to take a long vacation without even saying anything!"

"Tch. There is no such thing as 'vacation' in the world of ninja. I was needed as backup on an important mission. Raiden should have told you that."

Sauda rolled her eyes. "Well, you haven't changed. Speaking of Raiden, how is he?"

Osamu-sensei sighed. "He was badly injured during the fight. He should be fine by tomorrow. But anyways, shouldn't a chunin be on a mission right now?"

Sauda looked away. "I'm... not a chunin."

Osamu-sensei narrowed his eyes. "I see. I had my doubts, but I thought you might actually pass. Guess I was wrong."

"No one passed," she spat.

The snake slightly lifted it's head in intrest, but his eyes held no emotion.

"I was smashed into a wall... I won the match, but I passed out soon after. I woke up back here. Kankuro told me that someone was disguised as the Kazekage then attacked the Leaf. Team Baki was only there under orders to helped in the attack, and retreated when it was over. The real Kazekage is dead."

Osamu-sensei nodded. "So the Sand needs a new Kazekage?"

"Dont even think about it. If people try to kill a six year-old boy for hosting a demon, I highly doubt they would take too kindly to a real demon. And a bakeneko at that."

Her sensei rolled his eyes and with a puff of smoke, was in the form of an ashy-grey cat with two tails with gleaming red eyes. "Yeah right. Being a Kage is boring. You sit around doing paperwork. It's a complete waste of ninja skill."

"Depends. You also would have to protect the village from any attack. Knowing you, you'd probobly be the one attacking."

Osamu chuckled darkly. "Perhaps."

Sauda shook her head. "I'm surrounded by killers..." she muttered.

"Get over it." He hissed. "You're a ninja, you're going to face killers, and your going to have to kill."

"But I don't kill just to kill!"

"Because you can't kill anyone worth killing."

Sauda rolled her eyes. "Maybe because a certain bakaneko doesn't train me enough!"

Osamu-sensei narrowed his eyes. "Baka-neko?..."

Sauda returned his glare. "Hai. Ba-ka-ne-ko."

She could almost see his eye twitch. "You want more training, huh? Fine. Go get ready. I don't care if you're injured, but be ready. You still need to master your camoflauge jutsu, and I'm not going easy on you."

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

**Heyyyy It's longer! :D **

**lol that's 2 childrens sites I've been banned from now... the first one was Club Penguin. XD**


	10. Chapter 10: Mt Akuryou

Chapter 10

Mount Akuryou

"No."

"What?"

"I said no. You're not training, not in that condition." Kankuro said strictly, arms folded.

Sauda grinded her teeth. "You're so annoying!" She shouted.

"Sauda, you broke six ribs and you were unconcious for three days. You woke up at noon today and you're already leaving to train? No way! You have to heal!"

"This is nothing! I'm fine! Now get out of the way!"

Kankuro ignored her request to move from his spot in front of the staircase. Instead he narrowed his eyes and poked Sauda in the side.

"AUGH!" she screamed in pain "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, JERK?"

"Yeah, it's nothing. You're just fine." he scoffed.

"Quit mocking me before I hurt you!" she threatened, bloodlust starting to appear in her eyes.

Her threats had no impact on Kankuro. "You're not going, not until you've healed. You're not even allowed to transform!"

"I'll be fully healed in less than a week!" She glanced at Osamu-sensei for a moment. "Don't make me tell Osamu-sensei what you said!" she whispered, knowing of his good hearing.

Kankuro also shot a quick glance towards the long-furred cat sitting on the table nearby. He let out a small gulp, knowing that wouldn't end well.

He sighed in defeat. "Fine," he said, stepping aside "just take it easy."

Sauda rolled her eyes and walked passed him. "Yes, mother."

* * *

><p>Sauda finished packing her stuff and changed into her training clothes.<p>

She heard a slight snoring coming from her bed. She grinned. "Ey, Damien! I'm going to Mount Akuryou! You coming?"

"Ehh?" A drowzy brown and black Burmese poked it's head over the edge of the hammock. "Ah, Sauda, you're back? And you're leaving already?"

"Training. Osamu-sensei finally decided to show his lazy ass. Maybe he can help me perfect my Camoflauge Jutsu. So, you coming or not?"

Damien reluctantly heaved himself up, letting out a large yawn and a stretch. "Eh, sure..."

"Let me guess, you just want to see Kitsune, don't you?"

"Shut it."

* * *

><p>"You ready to go?" he asked, turning to Sauda. She nodded.<p>

Osamu made a hand sign. "Reverse Summoning!"

Realization suddenly struck Damien. "W-W-W-Wait! But I-," he was too late, and Osamu and Sauda disappeared in a puff of smoke. Damien hung his head. "But I... can't go to Mount Akuryou..." he finished sadly.

Kankuro re-entered the room to see Damien sulking in the corner. "Where's Sauda and Osamu?"

"They left..." he answered, still sulking.

"Then why are you still here?"

"Mount Akuryou is only for bakeneko. I'm a nekomata so I don't have a contract with them... Thanks for rubbing it in." He got up and stalked out of the room, tail drooping. "I'm gonna go see what Kouske is up to..."

"Tell him I said hi!" Kankuro called after him.

"Shut up!"

* * *

><p>"Alright. You ready?" Osamu sensei asked, shaking the new fallen snow off his grey pelt.<p>

Sauda looked around. "Hold on, where's Damien?"

"He's not a bakeneko. He doesn't have a contract, so he can't directly come to Mt. Akuryou with us. You can summon him though."

The black she-cat nodded before biting a bit of her paw pad and placing it on the white snow at her feet.

With a puff of smoke, the black and brown nekomata sat in front of her, obviously startled at the extreme change in temperature.

"S-Sauda?" he questioned.

"What, did you think I forgot about you?"

"Yes."

Sauda rolled her eyes "Baka; you're my partner, how could I forget you, especially when I'm training?"

Damien simply shrugged before turning to Osamu. "Where's Kitsune?"

"I KNEW IT!" Sauda immediatly screached, pointing an accusing paw at the nekomata. "You DID want to come just to see Kitsune!"

"No!" Damien defended "I was just curious! She's usually here to greet us! Besides, it has nothing to do with you!"

"What do you mean it has nothing to do with me? First off, you're my partner, that alone means I'm involved. And second, Kitsune is my friend and fellow bakeneko, therefore I am involved on both sides, so don't you dare say I have nothing to do with this!"

"Excuse me, Kittypets," Osamu interrupted. His nicknames earned him a glare from both cats. "Hate to interrupt, but we are here to train; nag each other's ass' off on your own time, not mine."

Sauda rolled her eyes. "Sure, sure. But can't we at least visit everyone first? I haven't seen them in a while..."

Osamu let out a dramatic sigh. "Fine, just don't take too long."

"Sauda Nee-san! Damien Nii-chan!"

Sauda smiled at the little bundle of fur that ran up to her. "Hey Kowa! You've grown!"

The kit pouted "well you haven't visited in a long time..."

Sauda chuckled. "You can blame your lazy uncle for that," she could feel Osamu's gaze burning into her. "Oh right, where's Raiden and Atsuko-san?"

"Tou-san! Kaa-san!" Kowa called out. A moment later, a light grey she-cat with green eyes came out, followed by a limping dark brown tom with silver eyes.

"Oh, Sauda, Damien, welcome!" the she-cat sang.

Raiden nodded. "Aa. We haven't seen you two for a while!" He turned to face his older brother. "Doesn't Kowa look just like you, Nii-san?" he purred.

Osamu narrowed his eyes and walked up to the kit standing in front of Sauda. It was true, they did look exactly alike. Kowa was a dark grey, only a slightly lighter shade than Osamu's pelt, and had the same red eyes as his uncle.

Osamu nodded and gave a slight smile; a rare sight. "He's like a clone."

Kowa's pelt fluffed up. "Well I don't want to be like you!"

Sauda nearly burst out laughing at her sensei's face. It was a perfect mix of irritation, uncertainty, and shock.

He regained his regular composure as he pulled back, a smirk visible on his face. "Mm hmm. Whatever you say..." he turned around to leave, but glanced over his shoulder at the kit. "... Kowatashi." (mini-me)

Kowa fumed and snarled at his uncle. Raiden chuckled and stepped forward, interrupting their fight. "Kowa, Brother, that's enough. I'm sure Sauda needs to get training."

The kit's face immediately brightened "Can I watch?"

Atsuko purred "It's okay with me, but you have to ask Osamu-sempai."

Kowa look at Osamu expectantly. Sauda's sensei paused for a moment, giving a cold glare before a huff. "Just as long as he doesn't get in the way. Now let's not waste anymore time. We have a lot to cover."

**SHORT! Omg sorry D:**

**I'm soooooo mad right now... I'm learning HTML and programming at a computer camp and on the second day, SOMEONE STOLE MY NEW PHONE! It had ALL of my story chapters on it ;A; so instead of up to chapter 22, I'm only at 18 and 1/2... Not to mention all the stuff I added to the original (this one) chapter...**


	11. Chapter 11: Allies

Neko no Jutsu: Chapter 11  
>Allies<p>

***Three Months Later***

"What are you doing here?" the orange ninja let out a hiss at the approaching cat.

Sauda raised an eyebrow. "Nice to see you too, Naruto. What, am I not allowed to visit an allied village?"

'That's right...' Sauda thought 'He probably still hasn't forgiven me about what happened in the hospital yet... And on top of that, it's the Sand's fault that his precious hokage is dead...'

He simply glared in response at the feline. "Whatever."

Sauda glanced away. "And... I'm sorry... about everything... I'm not too keen on the fact that Gaara did kill people, but I'm loyal to him, so even if he does, I'm not going to betray him. And... I'm sorry that we attacked the village... Although I was unconscious during the time we did so, but it was an order."

Although slightly surprised at her sudden apology, Naruto nodded. "I understand. And... what do you mean Gaara 'did' kill people?"

Sauda smiled up at him. "He's decided to stop killing people. He said he wanted to be like you."

A big stupid grin grew on Naruto's face. "I'm that awesome to him, huh?" he let out a small giggle of pride.

Sauda rolled her eyes but smirked at her new friend. "Yeah, yeah. Just don't let it go to your head."

"So um... what are you doing here?"

"Like I said, I'm visiting. I rather like the Leaf village..."

Naruto smiled. "Then let me introduce you to my friends!"

* * *

><p>"And this is Kiba and Akamaru."<p>

The little dog let out a warning bark followed by a growl.

Sauda chuckled. "It's okay, I don't bite... unless provoked."

Kiba raised an eyebrow in amusement then shook his head. "Only you would make friends with a cat, Naruto."

Turning to face the Inuzaka, Sauda sighed. "I'm only part cat."

Now Kiba seemed interested. "Part?"

Nodding, Sauda continued. "I'm human, but I prefer this form. My father was a human, and my mother was part demon. Every child in the Sachikuro family is at least part demon, and we deal with cats, such as your clan does with dogs."

"So where does the part cat come in?" he asked impatiently.

"I was getting to that. The part demon that we are is a cat demon. Not only that, but our family considers cats sacred and my mother had my father seal a powerful nekomata named Kasha inside of me. He is like the boss cat of them all, and he is also the two-tails."

"I thought Nekomata was the boss?" Naruto spoke up.

Sauda looked at him questioningly. "You... You know Nekomata?"

He nodded. "We had a mission to get the Nekomata's paw print for Teme's Paw Encyclopedia."

Sauda was silent for a moment before she burst out laughing. "That was you?! My sensei and I paid a visit to Nekomata recently-the whole place was destroyed! He said that three human brats intruded and cause so much chaos! I didn't think it would be you!"

"Well... it was a mission, so we had to do it... Sasuke used to chase fast cats when he was a little boy and get their paw prints!"

Sauda laughed even harder. "My sensei mentioned some asshole chased him for 3 hours straight and tackled him to get his paw print! Osamu is a walking ball of pride, and he's still trying to hunt him down!"

Naruto chuckled. "Well Teme's strong, and if he got your sensei back then, he can probably protect himself now."

Kiba, not knowing what they were talking about, changed the subject. "What's the difference between a bakeneko and a nekomata?" He kept a close eye on the two animals as Akamaru slowly approached the feline, who held still as to not startle the predator.

"I also have a partner; Damien. He's a bakeneko. A bakeneko is essentially a basic cat demon. Bakenekos are usually born as such if their parents were some. They were supposedly first created when a cat lived for over a hundred years or if it's tail grew too long, but that's just a legend. They have the ability to take on a human form and eat through almost any substance, no matter how inedible it is. That sometimes includes sleeping humans.

"They can talk, go into dreams, and create spirit fire, as I call it. Myths also say they can fly and turn corpses into zombies, but that's not true. But, they can shapeshift into a human; usually one that they killed and ate before taking the place of the human. Some even take on the form of a young lady so they can have kids with a human, but that's extremely rare. The results, as you can guess, have developed into the Sachikuro family... But unfortunately, I'm the only one left.

"As for the nekomata, they are a lower but more powerful type of bakeneko. When a bakeneko's tail splits, it's then considered a nekomata. Nekomata are much darker and more sadistic than bakenekos. Their powers are stronger depending on how old they were and how badly they were treated before the transformation. They have the same powers as a bakeneko, but they also have the power of necromancy. It takes their whole body to control the person, so they rarely do so. They can transform into people, but they usually take on the form of an old person and bring disaster and misfortune. And they love revenge. My sensei is a nekomata; he's an old friend of the Nekomata you met."

Naruto and Kiba stared in horror and dismay before their conversation was interrupted when a middle-aged ANBU wearing a hawk mask appeared in a puff of smoke in front of Naruto.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you. She has a mission for your team." Then the ninja disappeared as fast as he had arrived.

Naruto's face lit up, forgetting their previous conversation. "That's right! I still have to introduce you to Baa-chan!"

'He... wants to introduce me to his Grandmother?' Sauda questioned in her head. Not like there was anything wrong with it, it was just... unusual.

"Come on!" he shouted, bounding away towards the center of the village.

It didn't take long for Sauda to catch up, and Naruto came to an abrupt halt, making Sauda nearly trip as she tried to stop at such a speed.

"What's up?" she asked, padding back to him.

Naruto grinned. "Let's have a race!" he challenged.

Sauda blinked then returned the grin. "Alright, but I'm gonna win!" she said, getting in a starting position.

"Wait no fair! You're a cat!"

"So? Transform then!"

"I'm not used to a cat form... and Sakura-chan says I look like a frog..." he mumbled.

Sauda sighed, releasing her jutsu. "Alright."

"Ready? Go!"

They both leapt forward and onto the roofs of the houses beside them.

Trained in the field of stealth and agility, Sauda bounded over the rooftops skillfully and soundlessly. Not taking the competition seriously, she kept pace with the orange genin opposite her.

Seeing the destined building ahead, Sauda ran forward with a burst of speed, leaving Naruto stunned for a second. By the time he caught up, she was already waiting at the Hokage mansion, cat form and all.

"Showoff..." he muttered.

She chuckled in response and followed him inside.

"You have a mission for me, Baa-chan?" Naruto shouted before he could fully open the door to the hokage's office.

The three people already in the room turned to look at the loud newcomer.

Sauda recognized one of them as Uchiha Sasuke, and the pink-haired kunoichi she remembered as Sakura. The third one, a blonde woman sitting behind a desk who she could only assume was the hokage since she had never seen her before.

"Who is this?" the blonde asked, eying the small cat at Naruto's side.

Sauda bowed her head respectfully "Sabaku no Sachikuro Sauda. Nice to meet you."

"Oh yeah, this is Sakura-chan, Teme, and Tsunade Baa-chan!" Naruto introduced.

"A Sand ninja?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow. "Perfect."

The three genin gave her a questioning glance.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.

"It's a joint mission with the Sand."

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. U probably looked at the alert like: "wat da hell is this story?"**

**Well, the next chapter, if you couldn't guess, will pretty much be like the episode "Gaara's Bond" but I rewatched it right before I wrote the chapter, so I feel like it's kinda word for word which I hate XD**

**And... apparently... I got the definition of nekomata wrong so, yeah... WIKI IS YOUR FRIEND! I have already gone through my chapters and edited them but I'm too lazy to post the corrections now. :P**

**Hopefully, I update this story soon enough that u guys remember that a story like this even exists...**

**And, I really have no possible excuses for not updating. I'm working on chapter 22 of the story now, so there's no way to get around that. XD**

**But... I finally managed to watch a few episodes of Ouran High School Host Club, which I have held a stupid grudge against for quite a while now... This morning there was only one episode left to watch and I wanted to cry cuz I had to get ready for school. I was like: "NOOOOOO BUT TAMAKI, YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY BE SUCH AN IDIOT!" *cries in corner* I don't want to spoil it for anybody, but the ending nearly made me cry... not cuz it's sad, but if you've seen the ending, you probably know why XD (unless you have no soul)**

**REVIEW OR I SHALL SEND A NEKOMATA AFTER YOU**


	12. Chapter 12: Joint Mission (Gaara's Bond)

**First of all: I'm so sorry for how late it is ;3; I try to update at least once a month but I kept forgetting... I'm sure half of you saw this in your updates and said "wtf is dis?" and if u don't remember what happened last chapter, well, Sauda (my cat OC) was introduced to the other Konoha nin and Tsunade, and then she said Team Kakashi had a joint mission with the Sand.**

**Secondly: I hate this chapter. I feel like it's just a rewrite of the episode 'Gaara's Bond'... the only real reason I wrote it was because I liked one scene in it and wanted to follow up on that... even though it's just a little one. -.-**

**Thirdly: *forgets what was about to say* derp... OH RIGHT! I will try to update as soon as possible to make up for the lateness and hope you don't reforget everything in the meantime. I also got the definition of bakenekos and nekomatas mixed up, so if I said bakeneko, I meant nekomata and vise versa.**

**The only useful part of this chap is that she gives more info on the two-tails... and trust me, the story and crap about the Kasha sounds retarded to me too, but hey, I found "Kasha" while looking on wiki at ancient Japanese legends and my morbid love of the combination of cats and death loved it, so yeah. This is one messed up tailed-beast if you ask me though. :P**

Neko no Jutsu: Chapter 12  
>Joint Mission (Gaara's Bond)<p>

"Na, na, why do we need the Sand's help on this mission, anyways?" He was answered by a furry smack upside his head.

"What's wrong with the Sand? You don't even know who we're joining with!" the small cat hissed, now perched comfortably on the blonde's shoulder.

"I just mean, we can do it without their help! And it's a long travel for them." he quickly added in, seeing the glare he got.

Kakashi spoke up to answer his question. "It's to strengthen our bonds with the Sand Village. Just try not to get in a fight with them."

Sauda let out a chuckle. "Well, some of our nin aren't exactly the easiest to get along with... I would know."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well..." she began, pausing for words. "Let's just say I'm not exactly the most popular genin in the Sand Village ever since they found out I had the two-tails..."

Naruto could feel his stomach tighten. "Those bastards," he growled "it was never your choice, why do they hate Jinchuuriki?... Because of something that was forced on them?"

Sauda shook her head and sighed. "Well... I can't exactly blame them... I'm not exactly the best at containing Kasha..."

Naruto frowned "What's that supposed to mean?"

The feline gave a heavy sigh before continuing. "Every once in a while... I need it's help in battle... So it comes out and fights for me; in other words we switch places. But in return for it's help, he demands some time out... I can understand why they would hate me if I let the two-tails run free..."

The blonde's eyes widened "Why the hell would you let it free?!"

"The Kasha is different from the other tailed beasts. It doesn't go around destroying things and killing people. But..."

"But what?" Naruto prodded.

"It... loves it's job..."

The leaf genin furrowed his brow. "His job?"

The black one gave a small nod. "It... carries off corpses."

"WHAT KIND OF JOB IS THAT?!"

"He's more of a tailed beast version of a grim reaper, if you will."

"That's still messed up."

Rolling her eyes, she continued "Kasha is dark with sadistic humor like the Shukaku, but is too busy with his job to go around terrorizing people and destroying villages."

"Where do the bodies go after he... takes them?"

Sauda shook her head "Only Kasha's jinchuuriki knows, and I'm not saying."

"Okay, um... what does he do with them?"

"He has a lair where he keeps them... ever since he got a jinchuuriki, he hasn't had enough time to collect anymore, so it's filled with skeletons... but some are still rotting from the last few times he's been let out."

Naruto shuttered at the image. "Why does he collect them anyways?"

"Not even he knows. But there are two advantages to having the Kasha sealed inside of me..."

Naruto tilted his head in interest and confusion. "Advantages?"

She nodded "He doesn't have a large chakra supply, but, there's a ninjutsu only his jinchuuriki can use... It's a summoning jutsu that allows me to summon any person who's body Kasha has collected. Like another form of the reanimation jutsu... But at my strength, I can only summon one at a time, if it actually works, which is rare for me."

"Wow!" the blonde exclaimed, "that's incredible! What's the other advantage?"

Sauda glanced away "he knows as soon as someone dies."

"That's so cool! Creepy, but cool!"

Sauda chuckled lightly. She could tell Kakashi, who was in front of them, had overheard the conversation, but pretended not to notice. Sasuke and Sakura lagged behind, but didn't seem to show any signs of having overheard anything. Either way, after that, no one spoke as they made the rest of the trip in silence.

* * *

><p>"First!" Naruto shouted as he ran to the river. "Huh? Where are they?"<p>

"This is supposed to be the rendezvous point..." Kakashi mused.

"They're late?" Naruto scoffed, "How rude. You can never tell what those sand nin are thinking, and they're kind of scary..." he said, thinking specifically of Gaara and Kankuro.

Sauda's ears twitched as she heard a crack from the other side of the river. Sensing a familiar chakra, she smiled.

"Sorry we're late."

Sauda looked behind her, suddenly even more cheerful then before. "Hey there!"

Sakura and Sasuke starred in shock as did Naruto once turned around. "Ga-Ga-Gaara?!"

There was a minute of silence as Team 7 remembered their last encounter with the assasin.

"No, no, your right on time. We're just a little early is all." Kakashi said, sensing the tension in the air.

"No..." Gaara insisted. "We're late. I'm sorry."

Gaara's voice was followed by the splashing of two more wading into the river, holding two boxes that Sauda recognized as puppeteer boxes over them.

"Excuse me!" one of them said as they came to a stop next to Gaara in the river's middle. Only they were in the water, not on it.

"Sorry!" Said the other one, joining his fellow nin.

There was a moment of awkward silence as everyone stood still.

Suddenly, with no warning, Naruto snatched a rock from the ground and sent it hurdling towards Gaara.

Gaara didn't even flinch as his sand automatically protected him. Everyone stood in silent shock, for a reason Sauda couldn't figure out.

"Itai! Itai! Itai!" Naruto cried as Sauda glanced at him in confusion and surprise. He was busy having his ear pulled by Kakashi.

"Naruto," the jonin scolded, "what's the big idea?"

"I-it's just a way of greeting him!" the blonde defended, ignoring the snort from the feline in front of him, "Besides, throwing rocks can't hurt No Brows anyways, right?" Sauda's ear twitched in irritation at the nickname.

Naruto pushed Kakashi off and looked around. "Hey... where did the other two go?"

Gaara looked behind him, noticing the two chunin had disappeared.

"He made Gaara-sama use his ultimate defense!" Sauda heard one of them say, locating them hiding behind a bush on the river's opposite side.

"How scary!" Sauda rolled her eyes at their cowardice.

"Geez," Naruto complained "what a bunch of wimps! Hey," he added, turning to Gaara "why aren't the make-up dude and the fan lady with you?"

Sauda burst into laughter at the nicknames, especially Kankuro's, falling on her side as she did so.

"Itai! Itai! Itai!" Naruto cried out again as his other ear was pulled by Sakura this time.

"Their names are Kankuro-san and Temari-san," she hissed to the blonde idiot.

"I'm currently enlisted under the regular forces," Gaara explained, "let me introduce you to my subordinates, this is Yaoki and Korobi."

"I'm Yaoki!" the one on the left declared, raising a hand.

"And I'm Korobi!" the one on the right mimicked Yaoki's action and they both waved in greeting, still not daring to move from behind the bush.

"I'm Kakashi, the leader of this mission. And this is Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke."

"They are still rookies," the sand jinchuuriki explained, "please be patient with them."

Done laughing, Sauda couldn't help but feel bad. Still, no one in the Sand Village trusted him. Not even his personal subordinates.

* * *

><p>"There's something... I need to discuss with you..." Gaara said to Kakashi before leaping down from the branch, shortly followed by the jonin.<p>

"Why is he being so secretive all of a sudden?" Naruto asked.

Sauda was also curious and tilted her ears slightly towards where he now stood.

"The two captains probably want to go over the mission plans." Sakura explained to her teammate.

"Tch. Captain? He's so full of himself!"

Sauda frowned. Gaara was confident about his power, and he had reason to be, but he was definitely not full of himself. Instead of pointing that out, the cat scoffed at the blonde. "Well you're not exactly the most self-conscious of us, Mr. I'm-Going-to-be-Hokage!"

Naruto gave a childish response of sticking his tongue out.

Sauda let out a small chuckle but immediately stopped, a look of shock coming over her face. Sakura noticed that one of her ears twitched and she shot a glance towards Gaara.

"Nani?" Naruto asked, recognizing Sauda's sudden change in attitude.

The cat remained silent for a moment before shaking her head. "It.. it's nothing."

The blonde gave her a curious glance but didn't push.

"Alright," Kakashi said once the two captains joined their teams. "We'll go this way. You guys meet up tonight and we'll attack."

Gaara nodded and turned to Sauda, as if asking who she was going with, although it was clear he didn't mind either way.

"I'm coming with you." she stated, mind already set. Gaara didn't need to ask to know she had overheard what he had told Kakashi.

Once each team was set, they went their separate ways.

Gaara and Sauda said nothing, but could both hear Yaoki and Korobi's conversation. Although trying to be quiet and failing, they were talking about how countless victims had fallen victim to Gaara's sand. It was clear they were still terrified of him.

From the corner of his eye, Gaara saw Sauda close her eyes in disapproval.

After a moment of silence, both ears suddenly directed behind them and her eyes shot open.

Already understanding, Gaara stopped next to Sauda on a branch. Sand immediately shot between his horrified subordinates, blocking the path of some kunai.

They were instantly surrounded by Sand ANBU.

Without warning, Yaoki's and Korobi's puppets shot out from their boxes, heading strait for Gaara. Both chunin stood in shock.

Gaara's sand immediately protected him; exactly like their enemy had expected. Instead of attacking Gaara, the puppets circled him, wrapping him in chakra strings.

"You're attacking your own ninja!" Sauda spat at the ANBU. Her fur was on end, claws unshiethed and eyes blazing. She could feel the Two-Tails trying to persuade her to attack at full force; and she couldn't deny it was sounding like a good idea.

She noticed Gaara giving her a warning glance as to tell her to calm down. The attack wasn't unexpected. She complied as her fur fell, but only slightly.

The sand surrounding him had automatically reacted to the threat, forming a hand to get rid of the chuunin. He was trying to scare away his subordinates; out of the danger.

"G-Gaara-sama..." Yaoki murmured in fear, eyes pleading.

"W-We'll be killed!" Korobi was just as scared as his partner. Whatever trust they had in Gaara was now gone.

"That's right!" One of the attackers sneered, highly confident in their success. "He's a monster! A killing machine! Who thinks nothing of taking human lives!"

"That's not true!" Sauda defended "How can you say that?! You don't even know him!"

It was clear her attempts to rebuild the rookies' trust in their captain was useless. There was a minute of silence that felt like hours.

'Go' Sauda saw Gaara mouth. The chuunin took off before they even had time to process the word.

'Those pathetic-...' She snarled in her head.

Two of the enemies leaped down, taking control of the rotating puppets, which had begun blasting Gaara's sand with water. His one weakness.

"Damn you-" Sauda spat, lunging at one of the puppeteers.

A few ANBU jumped in to protect the two of them, fighting off the infuriated feline. Being only a genin, she was at a disadvantage.

Sauda continued to attack their foes, being knocked back each time, but getting up relentlessly.

"Sauda," Gaara hissed as she skidded on a branch "get out of here."

She looked at him in shock. "What?! No way! Like hell I'm going to abandon you!"

"Go!" he was beginning to get angry "That's an order!"

"Well, I'm disobeying you! Punish me later, I'm not lea-" she was cut off with a strong blow to the stomach, sendng the cat flying into a tree and forcing off her transformation.

"Always... in the stomach..." she muttered, picking herself up slowly. She felt a bit of blood escape her mouth and stick to her chin.

"Sauda," he hissed again "That's enough!"

"No!"

"Gaara!" they turned to see a few hundred familiar blondes.

One of the clones cut the strings binding Gaara and he backflipped onto the safety of the branch behind him.

Sauda watched in helplessness as all of the Sand ninja were beaten by Naruto and Gaara, as well as Yaoki and Korobi when they came back to help fight.

It didn't take long for Team 7 to win, and Korobi helped Sauda up, her arm over his shoulder, and his around her waist.

"You idiot," the angry redhead growled, "why didn't you run?"

She calmly looked back at him. "How many times must I tell you? I'll never abandon you."

There was a moment of awkward silence before Sakura spoke up.

"Let me take a look at that..." She said, making her way over to her fellow kunoichi. "I'm starting to learn a little bit of medical ninjutsu from Tsunade-sama."

Her hand glowed with green chakra as she put it over her stomach. It was quiet for a few seconds before Sakura pulled away with a gasp, clamping a hand to her mouth. She stared at Sauda in shock.

"What?"

"Y-You-..." she stammered "what... WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF?!" Sakura screamed, startling everyone.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"She... her insides are all messed up! If you took one more hit to the stomach, you could be dead! It's a miracle you're still alive!"

Now, everyone was staring at Sauda in shock. Not liking the attention, she shook her head. "I'm fine. I was kicked there and slammed into a tree when I was nine, I guess it never healed correctly and keeps re-opening."

"Quit trying to act cool!"

"I'm no-"

"Why didn't you see a doctor?!"

"I did."

"A REAL doctor! Any beginner assistant could tell you that your ribs are broken and digging into your insides, not to mention internal bleeding in the stomach! You need to see Tsunade-sama immediately!"

She rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, but if you really want me to see her, then okay, I will after the mission."

"Idiot!"

* * *

><p>"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura called as she dragged Sauda into the hokage's office. The blonde looked up from her paperwork. "You have to look at her stomach! All of her insides are out of place!"<p>

Tsunade stood up, glancing at the raven-haired girl. "You don't think you can heal her yourself?"

"I've only done small touch-ups Shishou, if I tried anything I would kill her! One wrong move and she'll be dead!"

"She doesn't look too concerned..."

"Sensei!" Sakura whined "She really needs medical attention!"

Tsunade walked over to Sauda and inspected her stomach in a similar fashion Sakura had. "Why didn't you tell me it was this bad?!" she snapped at her student, who flinched away.

"I tried, but-"

"And you!" She shouted, turning her wrath to Sauda "Why didn't you say something sooner?! Don't you care if you die?!"

"I'm only a pawn," Sauda said nonchalantly "as long as Gaara's safe I do-"

"Forget about your stupid boyfriend for once and worry about yourself! You sound like a broken record! You can keep him safe AND be healthy at the same time you know!"

Sauda was now staring in shock at the woman in front of her.

Tsunade sighed, done with her scolding. "It's not something she needs an operation on, I should be able to mostly fix it right now, but there will still be some permanent damage that I can't heal." She then let green chakra flow to her hand and carefully began repairing the damage. Sauda winced, but didn't move away. After a few minutes, she was done. "How's that?"

Sauda smiled "Much better, arigato, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade only scoffed at her. "Don't be so stupid. You'll get yourself killed. Despite what you think, people are going to miss you." She turned to Sakura. "Find her a place to stay. I want to make sure she's safe until I decide there's no threat of her bones moving out of place again."

Sakura nodded and smiled at Sauda. "You can stay with me. Come on."

Sauda obediently followed, but paused in the doorway before going out and looked at Tsunade. "And he's not my boyfriend!"

**Wow... there were so many spelling errors... my phone's auto-correct does NOT work.**


	13. Chapter 13: Orochimaru

"Itai!" Naruto cried as something hard collided with the back of his skull. He glared at the rock then at the smirking black cat. "What the hell?" he muttered.

"What?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice. "It's a way of greeting you."

Naruto rolled his eyes. Lesson learned. "Who's that?" he motioned to cat standing beside Sauda.

"This is Damien. He's my partner, kind of like Kiba and Akamaru." he had surprised Sauda by paying her a visit in Konoha.

He glanced at Damien "Why does your cat have two tails?"

"Because I'm a bakeneko." Damien explained.

Naruto looked kind of surprised, but this wasn't the first talking cat he's met, so he dismissed it. The kunoichi was full of surprises.

"That's also why I can talk." Said cat explained.

The blonde suddenly remembered what Sauda had said about bakeneko.

'I also have a partner; Damien. He's a bakeneko... They can talk, go into dreams, and create spirit fire, as I call it. Myths also say they can fly and turn corpses into zombies, but that's not true. But, they can shapeshift into a human'

"So you can turn into a human?"

The tom shook his head. "Only the more powerful bakenekos can. All nekomata on the other hand, can, no matter how strong they are."

"Oh yeah, Sauda, didn't you say your sensei was a nekomata?"

Sauda nodded.

Naruto seemed to get excited and passerbys began staring at the ninja talking to cats.

"That's so cool! Can I meet him?"

Sauda instantly froze, and noticed the uneasy glance that came from her partner.

Naruto blinked. "What's wrong?"

"Um..." She began "That's... not such a good idea..."

"Why not?"

Biting her lip, the cat searched for words to explain. "Well... Osamu-sensei doesn't get along well with others... If you get on his bad side, he'll strip your insides clean and feed them to his brother's kid!" She had to admit, imagining Kowa eating Naruto's guts would be rather amusing...

Naruto had lost all excitement. "He can't be that bad!"

Sauda narrowed her eyes. "He's killed more people than Gaara."

She could see Naruto gulp. "The Sand has some pretty murderous allies... Your sensei, the One and Two-Tails, that snake guy, Gaara-"

"Wait!" Sauda spat, startling him. "What did you say?! About the snake guy?"

"Oh yeah, I believe his name was Orochimaru. He was the guy who killed the kazekage and lead the attack on the Leaf. He was really strong and disguised himself as a snake and attacked Sasuke in the Forest of Death and gave him this weird bruise- where are you going?!" He called after the retreating form.

"I'm going back! Thank you, Naruto!" she called over her shoulder.

Naruto glanced at the remaining cat, who seemed just as confused as he.

Damien sighed. "We just got here after a three day trip and we're already going back..." he muttered before shaking his head and running after her.

"Sauda what's wrong?" Damien panted as he caught up with his partner.

"It was him, Damien," she snarled.

"What?"

"Orochimaru- he's the one who killed her!"

* * *

><p>"Gaara!" Sauda slammed her hands down on the table the possible soon-to-be kazekage was sitting at. He raised an eyebrow at the girl who was out of breath standing before him, but said nothing. "Why didn't you tell me?!" she snarled.<p>

"Tell you what?" he asked, his voice monotone.

She was extremely thankful to Naruto, not only for telling her about Orochimaru, but for changing Gaara as well. Had he been the same, he might have taken her actions as a sign that she was going to turn against him, and she'd be dead in an instant.

"Orochimaru..." she gasped between breaths.

Gaara noticed Damien come in, tounge hanging out, and immediately collapsed on the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me... that snake was our ally?! That that snake bastard was the one who joined forces with us to attack the Leaf?!

He gazed up at her, about to respond but Temari, who had been silent the whole time, beat him to it. "First off, don't break the table. And second, why does it matter?"

"It was him..." Sauda growled "He's the one who took her!"

Everyone's eyes widened.

"How do you know?" Kankuro asked.

"She was bitten by a snake. The snake changed into a guy with long black hair and white skin and dragged her off. Naruto said the same thing happened to Sasuke, only he left Sasuke alone after that! It's him, I just know it!"

Gaara sighed. "Sorry, but we have no clue what happened after that. There's nothing we can do."

"DAMN IT!" Sauda screeched, and, heeding Temari's words to spare the table, punched the wall with enough force that it easily broke under her fist, which held no chakra.

Temari sighed. "Well, you didn't break the table..."

"Why are you out of breath?" Kankuro asked, changing the subject.

"I made a three day trip in 20 hours, anymore questions?" she snapped.

Kankuro looked taken aback, but shook his head.

Deciding not to break anything else of her friends', she stormed upstairs and slammed her door.

"You okay?" Damien asked, slipping in through the cat door to Sauda's room.

Sauda didn't respond, she just burried her face deeper into her pillow.

The bakeneko sighed, leaping to the blocks in the corner, and onto the hammock from there.

"C'mon, Sauda," Damien begged "Cheer up."

"That bastard took away my closest friend, and I was so close to finding him! Why the hell does everything happen to me?!"

Damien sighed again and rubbed against her cheek in an attempt to cheer her up, but it didn't help. 'Think Damien, think!' he told himself, desperately wanting to cheer up his partner.

"Sasuke!" he suddenly said.

Sauda looked up at the cat "What about him?"

"Naruto said Sasuke was bitten by Orochimaru! We can see if he knows anything!"

Sauda's face lit up. "That's a great idea!" she cheered, hopping down from her bed. "Come on! Let's hurry!"

"Wha-!?" Damien whined in response. "But... But we... we just came back!"

"And now we're visiting again. You coming or not?!"

Damien wimpered. "Kami, how can you even move?! I'm staying here!"

Sauda shrugged. "Suit yourself. See ya!" she called over her shoulder as she left her room.

Running downstairs, Sauda recieved curious glances from her adopted family.

"I'm going back to Konoha! See you in a bit!" she shouted before accidently slamming the door behind her.

The two elder children sweat-dropped. "Again?"

* * *

><p>2 Days Later<p>

Sauda sat down, panting as she caught her breath. Transforming into a cheetah made the journey much quicker, but she was also exausted by the end of it.

Instead of walking the streets and scaring every citizen to death that a cheetah was loose in the village, transforming into a regular cat would be much smarter, so Sauda did so before continuing to enter the gates.

Before she could get past them, two ninjas, one with a bandage covering his nose, stopped her.

The one next to the bandaged guy spoke first. "Kotetsu, it's just a cat."

Kotetsu glared at the other one. "A cat wandering into the village right after an attack?"

Attack?

"And with everything that's going on right now? Don't you think that's a little suspicious, Izumo? Besides, it has a forehead protecter with the symbol of the Sand. After the Chunin exams, despite our alliance, I still don't trust them."

Sauda sighed. "Trust me, we have no intention of betraying the pact. I'm simply here to visit some friends of mine."

Kotetsu narrowed his eyes "Then why are you transformed?"

"If I was to infiltrate the Leaf disguised as an enemy, I wouldn't be wearing my Sand protecter. This is the form I usually take on. My family specializes in cats, like Kiba's family."

"What's your name?"

"Sachikuro Sauda."

Kotetsu and Izumo glanced at each other. "I haven't heard of the Sachikuro's before."

Sauda nodded. "My family has never been big, and my mother and father died when I was young."

"Oh... I'm sorry." Izumo said.

Sauda shook her head. "I hated my father and my mother was nothing but a nuisence. I don't miss them in the least, there's no reason to apologize."

"Um... who are you here to see?" Kotetsu asked, changing the subject. She was starting to notice people often changed the subject when she brought up her family...

"Naruto and Sasuke."

They nodded before stepping aside. "Alright. You may pass."

Sauda bowed her head respectfully. "Arigato."

Within a few minutes, she would be even closer to finding her friend's killer.

**I'm sooo sorry! I meant to update months ago! D: (also planned on updating on April Fools day saying I was stopping the story, but oh well. :P) I promise I will never stop this story... until it's done XD but that may take a while... considering I can't write cuz my phone's STILL broken and I wrote an awesome part but have no clue how to finish it off :/**

**I will try to remember to update within a month otherwise I'll give everyone cookies!**

**(and yes, I can update all I want considering I'm currently on chapter 21, but too bad for you ;D I like waiting a month to update again so ppl have time to read it instead of coming back after not reading fanfics for a while and see they have 8 new updates for this story... like me. I only read fanfiction on my phone... and since I haven't had it since New Years, (and was behind a few chapters even then) according to gmail, I now have 147 chapters I have to get caught up on :I)**

**and for being late in updating... RANDOM FACT: Sauda can't blush :D (neither can I lol... could when I was little but now, no matter how awkward or embarrassing a situation is (including the most awkward ones I could possible think of... those with their minds in the gutters, should know what I mean ;3) I can't get myself to blush. Thought that could be a cute twirk in the story...) (twirk? is that even a word? well you know what I mean.)**

**Thanks for reading! :D**


	14. Chapter 14: The Fifth Sound Ninja

**Before you say anything, NOT MY FAULT. I know I promised to update quickly, but my mom took away my computer, so I couldn't. (She took it away for 9 weeks, so don't think I mean I only lost it for a few days.) And also, I know this chapter is short, but the next chapter is my favorite and I put a lot of effort into writing it.**

**Now, ON WITH THE STORY!**

_**The Fifth Sound Ninja**_

Sauda stared at Naruto in silence, unable to comprehend what he had just said. "W-What do you mean he's not here?!"

Naruto gritted his teeth, having trouble accepting the news himself. "Sasuke disappeared last night. Sakura tried to stop him, but he knocked her out."

Well there goes any information on Orochimaru. Sauda let out a hiss of annoyance. No way was she going let any clues to his whereabouts slip through her paws.

She looked back up at her friends, "I'm coming." It was obvious they were gathering a search team together to track him down, and no way would she get left behind.

The blonde gave her a confused look.

"Orochimaru was the one who killed my best friend. If Sasuke has any information on him, I won't let him get away!"

"Sauda," Shikamaru interrupted "we have reason to believe he is heading to Orochimaru's hideout. You can come, but we're going to try to bring him back as soon as we can; before he gets to the hideout if possible. We need you to help do the same, you can't simply follow him for your own benefit."

Sauda nodded. "Right. I need to get as much information as I can, and even a little is better than none. If he's heading to his hideout, then I assume that means he knows the way. That's all I need."

"Alright, then let's go."

It didn't take long to catch up to Sasuke's group. Everyone hid their chakra and followed quietly, making sure not to be noticed.

"How many are there, Neji?" Shikamaru asked, turning to his teammate as soon as Sasuke's captors stopped for a rest.

"There's six, including Sasuke. I can't see because of the seal, but I think he's inside that 'coffin'."

"Five and Sasuke?" Naruto asked, frowning. "I only see four."

Neji shook his head. "No, there's another one hiding ahead. It looks like a child, but I'm not certain. If I had to guess, I'd say female, a bit younger than us."

"That's odd... Any idea why she's hiding instead of traveling with the rest of them? Are you sure it's not just a coincidence that she's here?"

"She's been traveling separately, but at the same pace as these guys and stopped when they did. She's either pursuing them for her own reasons, or she's one of them. That doesn't explain why they're separated though."

"But she's hiding her presence, isn't she? These guys aren't, so wouldn't that mean she wasn't with them?" Chouji spoke up.

Shikamaru shook his head. "If that were the case, I'm sure she'd have attacked them by now, but for that to be the case, she'd most likely have to be stronger than all of us combined. That, or dumber than Naruto." He added in the last part in under his breath as to not be heard by the blonde. "It's clear she has to be with them, but I suppose we'll just have to find out why she's separated."

Seeing the enemies begin to head out again, the ninja stopped talking and began to follow them once more.

* * *

><p>With Chouji left behind for his own fight, the remaining sound members stood and glared at the five left in the retrieval team. The lack of chakra from Jirobo's jutsu had forced the feline back into her human form once more.<p>

"Tsk," Sakon said, "you brats are starting to get annoying. We have to deliver Sasuke to Orochimaru, we don't have time to deal with you."

"Hey," Kidomaru called, looking at no one in particular "You're up, kid!"

As soon as he said it, a young girl, who appeared to only be a year or two younger than them, appeared, kneeling on the branch beside them. The girl had long black hair and green eyes. This had to be the fifth ninja that Neji had been talking about.

The girl sneered at her teammates. "Couldn't handle a couple of weaklings by yourselves? You three are more pathetic than I thought..."

Sakon scoffed, "Whatever. We're short on time, so deal with them then catch up."

"Isn't that what you told Jirobo? Where is that fatso, anyways?"

"He's still back there I suppose, but one from their group is missing too."

The girl glanced at them. "You escaped Jirobo's jutsu? Impressive, I will admit, but not good enough."

"Can you handle all of them?"

"My age has nothing to do with my skill, don't doubt me, Sakon!" She spat at the two-headed sound ninja "But since it's one on five, I'll go right on ahead into Stage 2."

Sakon nodded. "Alright. Just be careful."

"Shut up!" she hissed, "Just go, I can handle them!"

Sakon narrowed his eyes but complied; Tayuya and Kidomaru on his heels.

Black marks began crawling up the girl's skin and she grew a dark orange color. Her hair looked more matted, her eyes more predator-like. The tattoos settled on her, looking like stripes, but she still had the same arrogant air around her.

"Careful," Neji warned "She's hiding something."

Shikamaru nodded. "You guys go on ahead, I'll take care of her."

"Alright, be careful." Neji said to him, getting ready to keep going. "Come on, Sauda," he said to the girl, seeing as she had not joined them.

She didn't move. Something was wrong.

"Sauda?" he repeated with a frown. Still, the Sand ninja didn't take her eyes off of the girl. "What's wrong?"

Without warning, the green-eyed girl leaped at Sauda. Neji jumped to attack and draw her attention away from the frozen jinchuuriki, but was thrown off guard as something collided with his side, knocking him down. Landing, he looked over his shoulder to see what it was. "Sauda, what are you doing?!"

Golden eyes glared at him. "Don't you dare lay a finger on her." She hissed, her voice dripping with venom. The Hyuuga stared back at her in shock, saying nothing.

"You..." she murmered, barely a whisper, "you... it can't be... you..." she squeezed her eyes shut as tears betrayed her and rolled down her cheeks. "You died three years ago! What kind of sick joke is this?!" she had raised her voice to a screaming level, eyes turning to the newcomer, filled with confusion and fury.

Naruto's eyes widened. This... was Sauda's closest friend? The one who was kidnapped?

The girl smirked "Ahh, I did ask Orochimaru to tell you that, didn't I? And sheesh, Sauda, I'm perfectly fine, no need to shout."

"Sh-Shut up!" She screamed "What the hell happened to you? Why didn't you come back?"

She shook her head. "You really haven't changed, have you? And how long has it been? Three years now? My, it really has been a long time..." she smirked. "...Sis."

"Emi..."


	15. Chapter 15: Emi

**Short A/N so it doesn't take away from the story: Finally, my most prided chapter of all time. Was gonna update once I found the new picture I drew for this story and edited it, but if I haven't found my notebook yet, I won't anytime soon :(**

Emi

_**Three Years**** Ago**_

"Ahaha! C'mon!"

"Emi, slow down!"

Sauda smiled at Emi. Not only was Emi her little sister, but she was her best friend. The three-year difference in age meant nothing to them.

Emi ran to the forest edge, looking around in excitement. She had never seen trees before. The two of them lived in the desert, but now they were coming home from a trip with Gaara and his siblings, who had been assigned a mission in the Land of Waves. Emi had been just as excited about Seeing the ocean at first, but easily got bored once she realized it was the same as the desert, only with water. They were currently planning on spending the night in a town they just found, since the next one wasn't for many miles.

Emi, who had slept the whole way on Sauda's back, was excited about the new terrain.

"C'mon Sissy, what are you waiting for?!"

"Emi," Sauda sighed "I've been traveling all day and carrying you on my back, I'm tired! Geez, you have too much energy..."

"Nooo!" She argued in response to Sauda, who was following her anyways, "You have too little!"

Sauda chuckled "Emi, you're still six. Six year-olds still have lots of energy. You lose it as you get older."

Emi grinned up at Sauda. "Yeah, but you're going to need lots more energy if you're going to fight someone with a lot more energy like me!"

Sauda nodded. "Yeah, you're a fast learner so I'm just gonna have to train harder!"

"So can we train, Sissy?" The young girl looked up hopefully at her older sister with big round eyes.

"Not now. I just said I'm tired."

Emi stuck out her bottom lip in a cute pout, arms folded childishly over her chest. "You're no fun at all!"

Sauda sighed again and rolled her eyes. "I said not now, not not at all! Just give me an hour while I take a look around town."

Emi took on a bright smile. "Can I come?"

Sauda frowned. She had planned to go shopping by herself. It was Emi's birthday tomorrow...

"It's not gonna be any fun, trust me. Why don't you ask Temari if she'll train with you?" she suggested.

Emi smiled and nodded, running up to Temari, who politely declined.

Sauda chuckled lightly at her junior. She was so cute and innocent, no one with a heart could resist her.

"Gaara!" The boy looked over at his friend from where he stood in the street, looking for a hotel. He said nothing, but she knew she had his attention. "I'm going to go shopping," she declared, casting a glance at her sister, which the boy understood immediately, "can you look after Emi?"

The redhead answered with a curt nod, before beckoning the child over and continuing to pace the village.

Sauda sprinted off, knowing she only had limited time to find a present for her sister before the clingy girl would start demanding for her sister. There were all sorts of shops that had stuff she'd never seen in the Sand village, and all of them were full of little bits of this and that, but nothing that struck her as something her sister would like. Finally, she came across a small shop, filled with cards, picture frames, and other such things.

It didn't take a genius to realize Emi loved her adopted family and sister more than anything in the world, so something she could keep as a memory would be the best gift.

"Excuse me," the shopkeeper called. Sauda looked over. "Are you looking for anything specific?"

"Well, it's my little sister's birthday tomorrow, I was thinking she might like something to remind her of us when she's older... But a picture frame is a bit large..."

The shopkeeper's face lit up. "I have the perfect thing!" She proclaimed as she turned around, the skirt of her uniform floating in the air as she did so, and disappearing into a doorway behind the counter. A few moments later, she reappeared and handed Sauda something made of cool metal.

She looked it over in her hands. It was a golden heart-shaped necklace on a matching chain.

Seeing the young girl look slightly confused, the lady chuckled opened the necklace. "It's a locket," she explained, "you can cut out a picture and put it inside."

Sauda smiled brightly. "This is perfect!" she paused "but... I don't think I have enough money..."

The saddened look on the child's face nearly broke the shopkeeper's heart. No way would she dare disappoint a girl like that, giving all of her allowance to buy a gift for her sibling.

"Don't worry about that," the woman said sweetly "it's free."

Sauda looked up at her in shock. "What? Really?"

The shopkeeper smiled and nodded. "Do you have a picture with you?"

Sauda promptly pulled out a small photograph from her pocket. The lady looked it over. In the center of the photo stood the girl in front of her, a few years younger, right arm over a red-haired boy's shoulder. His forehead was bare and he was smiling, arm draped over the same girl's shoulder in return. The said girl had her left hand placed on a smaller version of herself, most likely the sister she had been talking about, who was giving a peace sign to the camera, holding a small black and brown kitten in an uncomfortable position in the other arm. On the left side of the photo stood another child, a male with brown hair, pulling one eye down and sticking his tongue out. On the right was another young girl with blonde hair, who stood with her arms crossed, but a light smirk visible on her features.

The lady chuckled at the casualness of the photo. "Do you mind if I cut it so it will fit?" she asked.

Sauda shook her head and the lady began cutting the picture, making sure to include everyone.

"Alright, here you go!" she said as soon as she was finished fitting it into the small trinket, before handing it to Sauda.

"Arigato!" The girl said excitedly and bowed respectfully before running back to her friends.

* * *

><p>"Emi!"<p>

The said girl turned around from her argument with Kankuro, over what, she would never know, and her face immediately lit up.

"You ready to train?"

"Yeah!" Emi cheered, too excited to notice Sauda hadn't even rested in the first place and was panting, even more tired out from running than she had been before. "Can we go explore the woods first, Sissy?"

Sauda chuckled. "Sure. Once you become a genin, you'll probably have to fight a lot in the forest, so might as well get used to it."

Emi nodded and ran into the trees, dragging her sister behind her, leaving Temari to check into the new-found hotel as Kankuro decided to strike up a one-sided conversation with his brother.

"Wow!" Emi exclaimed, looking excitedly around the new surroundings.

Sauda smiled as Emi ran around, looking at bugs hiding under rocks, chasing squirrels up trees, and scaring away birds in a frenzy of feathers.

"Are you done terrorizing the animals?" She asked with a laugh.

Emi turned back and got in a fighting stance without saying a word.

They trained for hours, and by the time Emi started to tire out, the sun was almost set. Sauda went easy on her sister, but she still had to keep her guard up. Three years younger, and she was almost as good as her. It wouldn't be much longer before Emi actually did surpass her sister, as much as Sauda hated to admit.

As the forest gradually grew darker, they decided to take a break, each falling to the ground panting.

Once they had almost regained their breath, Sauda shot in front of Emi, arms protectively out to the side. "Who's there?" she snarled.

Emi hadn't noticed before, but suddenly she felt a trace of a third's chakra, but as soon as she did so, it was gone.

Sauda looked around in every direction, searching for the uninvited guest.

Without warning, the girl heard a high-pitched scream from her younger sister, and turned to see Emi clawing at an over-sized albino snake biting into the back of her neck.

Sauda lashed out at the snake with a kunai, but it quickly retreated and took on the form of a man with snow-white skin and purple marks around his eyes.

The said man sneered, picking up a kicking and screaming Emi under his arm. "I'll be taking her."

"No you won't!" Sauda screamed, running up and pounding her fist on his chest. Her attacks left him unscathed, and only seemed to make him irritated as she was demanding why he wanted her sister, and telling him to take her instead.

The man seemed to lose his patience and kicked Sauda straight in stomach, sending her flying through a tree and into the one behind it, a mouthful of blood spilling down her chin upon impact and collapsing in a small pile at its base. She could hear the crack of bones when she collided with the tree, in addition to the obvious bleeding she could tell she had received from the kick. She had taken the damage straight on, and the results could very well be fatal. Her small figure didn't help either.

"She has the two-tails sealed inside of her. She must be kept away from the Akatsuki at all costs. I'm helping her." The man explained sternly.

"_No! You're wrong! I have the two-tails!_" Sauda tried to say, but no words came out. She had definitely sustained damage to her lungs, making her unable to speak. As blood trickled down from her chin onto her lap, she felt tears fall over and slide down her cheeks.

The man walked over to Sauda, still ignoring the desperate screams of pain coming from his marked captive. "There's no guarantee she'll live." he told her as he heard a small whimper from the older sibling.

"But, since I'm a nice person," he said in a sickly sweet voice "I'll drop by tomorrow and tell you if she lives or not. But don't get your hopes up, there's only a one in ten chance of her surviving. If she does happen to die, I already have plans to ensure the two-tails' capture, so you needn't worry about that, either. "

With that, he jumped away, still clutching the struggling and screaming six year-old under his arm, and the two of them disappeared into the darkness.

Sauda lay still for what felt like hours as it got dark and she felt her consciousness flickering.

"Sauda! Emi!" she heard Kankuro's voice call out "It's getting late! You should head ba-Holy shit!" he loudly cursed as he saw Sauda, laying against a tree, blood and tears trickling down her dirt-covered face.

He quickly ran to her side. "What the hell happened?! Where's Emi?!"

Sauda slowly shook her head, unable to speak. Kankuro instantly understood. She felt him pick her up bridal-style as she was overwhelmed with darkness.

Her closest friend was gone. Her last remaining family member. Her only sister, who she loved dearly with all her heart. Gone.

_And it was all because of her._


End file.
